


Best Friends Drag You Out Of Bed™

by Sehuns_bag_of_Lays



Series: 101 Dump {VERY TOXIC} [1]
Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: AU, Another unplanned fic, By Veil, Characters and tags may change, Dongpaca is just clickbait, Guys you got a new cover, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I have plans for Ongniel, I really need to stop, I think that all these suggested tags are hilarious, I'm a sucker for comments, I'm back, I'm sorry it's bad, It's 12 am what am I doing, Jinseob is clickbait, Literally a mashup of all my ships from Produce 101, M/M, Mentions of SEVENTEEN members, Royalty AU, SAMWHI WILL LIVE IN MY HEART, Slow plot line, Someone give me a t-shirt that says "Samhwi is not dead", Updates inconsistently, VERY SLOW PLOT LINE, Y'all are crazy for reading this, i need to sleep, it's so long, just a tiny bit of angst., leave me alone I'm still upset Samuel didn't make it into the top 11, mostly fluff??, sorry - Freeform, they make a 4 line cameo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-30 06:52:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 22,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11458305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sehuns_bag_of_Lays/pseuds/Sehuns_bag_of_Lays
Summary: Royalty AU where Samuel and Daehwi flirt but everyone except for themselves realize they're flirting.orSamuel is a rude prince (in more ways than one), Daehwi is his best friend (or something more), Guanlin is the foreign guard sent on a goose chase (or is it?), Seongwoo just got dragged into this mess (literally), Daniel is only trying to be nice (but he isn't?), Jihoon is the whiny (and handsome) baker, and Jinyoung is Jinyoung.Samhwi & OngNiel & WinkdeepBFDYOOB™ cover





	1. Rule 1: Leaving the castle without permission is forbidden

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for the messy plot line, I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. The idea was born at 12 am in the morning too. Enjoy?

"Muel-ah! Get up!" An unknown voice shouted in Samuel's ear.

Samuel made no motion to indicate that he heard the voice, pestering him to awaken. In fact, he was deep in his peaceful sleep. (Much to the annoyance of the other trying to get him up.)

"KIM SAMUEL! ARE YOU IN THERE?"

Samuel cracked one eye open. Seeing who it was, he proceeded to roll onto his belly and hide himself under the plush covers. It was super comfortable on his bed which made ignoring his hyung even easier.

"No," Samuel mumbled. He allowed himself a small smile. "Go away Daehwi-hyung." Samuel slyly peeked out from underneath the multitude of blankets to see his hyung's reaction.

The elder pouted. (Very cute, Samuel thought. He dismissed the notion at once.)

"Yah! Today is a very important day," declared Daehwi. "It's a day of festivities and celebration!" Daehwi looked at Samuel impatiently, seeing if he got the memo.

Tilting his head to the side, Samuel tried to recall the date. "It isn't my birthday though," he said at last and burrowed back under the soft bedspread.

Daehwi sighed and rolled his eyes. When would his best friend ever learn? "Of course it is not, no one would want to celebrate your birthday."

Samuel made an incoherent sound. "Excuse me, I am very important."

"Ha!"

"Now if you would like to insult me more, I suggest you wait until I'm 100% awake."

"Fine." Daehwi yanked the covers away from his dongsaeng and he tumbled onto the plush floor. Samuel's bleary eyes and unruly hairstyle made Daehwi stifle a giggle. A piece of hair that stuck out was automatically smoothed down by Samuel's best friend.

"Hey! Who let you do that?" exclaimed Samuel, surprised at the action.

Daehwi grinned. "Me, that's who. Now get dressed, breakfast will be ready shortly." After a few seconds of silence, he mockingly added, "Your Highness." Then he exited the room.

With the help of a servant, Prince Samuel Arredondo Kim got dressed for breakfast.

…

It was odd, really. The king, a.k.a Samuel's father, had just came back from a neighboring kingdom, when he heard the wail of a child. He ordered the highly protected vehicle to stop at once.

"Sire, I don't think it is a good idea to retrieve the child who is making those unpleasant sound," advised the king's advisor. "There would be dire consequences as well. The expenses would be-"

The king paid no heed to his babbling staff member. He searched for the child, along with his personal guards for a while. Finally, a guard found the crying child. The guard reported that the child was found near a building evidently burned down. No living human being was found in that area except for the child. Only a scrawled piece of paper with the name Kim Arredondo Samuel and a dirty locket were discovered next to him. Everything else was gone because of the fire.

"Your spouse is rather distressed about you not coming home on time." Jihoon held up the king's cell phone. It displayed the message from Jeonghan with an abundance of exclamation points. To be very specific, it said, 'WHERE ARE YOU YOU, I ALMOST DESTROYED SOMETHING BECAUSE I WAS COOKING!!! WHY DID GUARD (CHEF??) MINGYU HAVE TO COME WITH YOU?!! GO HOME!'

Jihoon flipped through the clipboard he carried. "I would also like to inform you that you're running late on you're schedule."

King Seungcheol grunted. "Tell me something I don't know," he muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me, sire?" Jihoon asked.

"Nothing, nothing." Seungcheol shuddered. He didn't want to make his advisor angry. The last time Jihoon got angry, he almost smacked someone with a guitar. (Now that is a story for another time.)

"Sire, please, we must leave. I've delayed your schedule for far too long."

King Seungcheol ignore his advisor as usual and nodded to the guard who found the kid. "I'll be sure to give you a promotion. What is your name?" Seungcheol asked.

"Thank you, Your Highness. My name is Jonghyun Kim," the guard replied. He gave his first then last name, instead of the traditional last then first name.

"Ok, I'll be keeping your name in my mind."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

"Please take care of the child until tomorrow night. I'll be sure to break the news about adopting the child to my spouse by then."

Jonghyun lowered his head. "As you wish, Your Highness."

"Ok," the King clapped his hands. "let's get a move on!"

And with that, Samuel became royalty.

…

"You're 1 minute and 59.17 seconds late." Daehwi tapped his watch, looking mildly annoyed.

Samuel yawned. "Whatever."

"Manners, Muel-ah! Did you not learn anything during that whole manners program?" scolded Daehwi.

Thinking of the MNET manners course made Samuel shiver. He refused to go through that again. Daehwi would likely make him repeat it if Samuel ever told Daehwi that he hated it.

"Yo, Your Highness, the food is getting stale. Eat up," Daehwi ordered.

"Manners, Daehwi-hyung!" The prince cheerfully reminded his friend. He concentrated on using the correct silverware on the meal of fresh eggs and bacon.

"Your father is allowing you to attend the Annual Winter Festival this year," informed Daehwi. "I am to accompany you wherever you go."

Samuel chewed thoughtfully. "You asked for me to be released from the castle and he said no. Now you're lying to me about him letting me go so I can go with you. Am I right or am I right?" He glanced expectantly at Daehwi.

Daehwi shook his head. "Rats, was I that obvious?"

He nodded while shoveling more food into his mouth.

The other looked at Samuel in wonder and awe. "How did you figure that out?"

"I eavesdropped on your conversation." No shame was detected from the prince's voice.

"Samuel! That's rude!"

"Mhmm…" Samuel wasn't really listening to Daehwi anymore. But then again, when did he EVER listen to his hyung?

Daehwi rolled his eyes. Boy, oh boy, was this prince a piece of work. He'd appear charming and charismatic in front of his loyal subjects. (They were everywhere, by the way.) When the prince was all alone, (well alone as he could ever be) he'd transform into a lazy, sarcastic, and even more adorable person. Wait, did Daehwi just call him adorable? Daehwi rubbed his forehead. Being around Samuel must have affected him too much. He made a mental note to request a day off.

"I'll go."

Daehwi thought he needed his ears checked. The Samuel he knew wouldn't bend a single rule, much less break one set by the king himself.

"Really?" Daehwi's eyes widened. "Wow."

His mischievous smile widened. "Really."

Daehwi's mood improved almost instantly. "Oh boy."

Nodding, Samuel said, "That's right. Oh boy."

It was easy obtaining clothing that blended in easily with the crowds of people at the celebration. The maids were more that happy to be of service to the future king. They didn't question anything either, which was very helpful. The younger got some clothes for Daehwi as well. 

Samuel struggled to put the jacket on without the assistance of a servant. He looked pleadingly at Daehwi with his best 'I'm not capable of doing anything without someone's help' face. The elder, now playing the role of a servant, scoffed. 

"There's no way am I ever going to help you put on a jacket. You have two hands. Use them," Daehwi suggested. He turned away to put on his shoes.

"Ugh! Fine!" Samuel clumsily grabbed the jacket, only to have it slip from his fingers. He scooped it up, praying that his best friend didn't notice. The jacket was rather dark and short. His maid informed him that it was called a bomber jacket. With the best of his ability, Samuel finally slipped into the article of clothing.

"See Daehwi? I did it!" Samuel was extremely proud of himself. 

Daehwi raised his eyebrows. "Congrats," he deadpanned. Daehwi noted that Samuel had really bright eyes when he was proud. He, of all people should know that, since he's been around the crown prince practically his entire life. Daehwi pointed to the rest of the outfit scattered on the bed. "Good luck."

"Daehwi!"

The latter grinned and stepped out into the hall.

When Samuel was finally dressed, they tried to find a way to sneak out of the castle. It sounded easier than it actually was. 

"Don't stand up so straight! People who see you might recognize you!" chastised Daehwi.

"This is what you get for making me learn manners!" Samuel shot back. "It'll be bad for my backbone if I slouch! That's what Instructor BoA said!"

"Then just look at the floor!"

"But that's not fun!"

The bickering pair became silent when the king they saw the king. Because of their talking, they didn't notice him standing in front of them until too late.

"May I ask you two a favor?" King Seungcheol said. He held out a sealed piece of paper. "I would like you to deliver this to 101 Bakery. I would ask one of my messengers, but I'm in a bit of a rush." 

Daehwi took the letter quickly, glad that Samuel had gotten caps for the both of them. 

The king looked perplexed. "You aren't replying 'Yes, Your Highness'?" After a pause he exclaimed, "Ah, I know who you are!"

Daehwi and Samuel froze.

"You're the new runners I told Jihoon to hire! I see…well, since you're new, the way to the servants' entrance and exit is located on the floor beneath this. You can't miss it."

Daehwi squeaked a thank you and pulled Samuel towards the elevator.

"And boys?" King Seungcheol called after them. The duo looked back to the king. "Don't stay out too long!"

The elevator pinged and opened. They stepped in.

Still in the hall, King Seungcheol laughed a little, very entertained. "Servants." His mouth twitched up. "Or shall I say Samuel and Daehwi?"

…


	2. The Very Bad Mistake Samuel Made

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished this chapter in 5?? hours total. (BUT NOT IN ONE SITTING.) Enjoy??

Being nervous was an understatement. Samuel was actually terrified of going into the world his parents protected him from. It's not because he's a scaredy cat, it's just that he's very uncomfortable about being treated as a citizen. There would be no one to do your bidding. Daehwi would never serve Samuel, he made that crystal clear. The crown prince would have to deal with his insecurities himself. He squared his shoulders and walked out the door that separated him from the outside world.

Beside him, Daehwi hissed, "I told you not to straighten your back!"

"Cool it, hyung!" 

Daehwi was taken aback. No, it was not because of the disrespect, (though he took note to call the MNET manners class later) rather it was because of the honorific. Samuel only reverted back to his old habit of calling Daehwi a hyung when he was feeling an uncontrollable emotion or when he was teasing him. An example was when his pet died. Samuel cried for 3 days and had called him hyung for almost a week without realizing it. 

"Yah, Sammy are you scared of going outside?" He tried to say this as if he didn't care. Hopefully Samuel thought he wasn't concerned.

Samuel looked him in the eyes and glared at his only friend. "Didn't I ask you to not call me Sammy?"

"Didn't I ask you 'Are you scared of going outside'? You changed the subject, Sammy." They were about the same height now that Daehwi had not been growing taller. It made Daehwi feel short. He was always a little bit taller than Samuel since they met. This made him feel proud and old at the same time.

The dongsaeng gritted his teeth and shook his head to answer the question. 

"Are you sure?"

"I'm not afraid of this! It's a piece of cake," insisted Samuel. He put on his brave face.

"Yeah right, don't lie to your best friend." Daehwi folded his arms.

"I'm not lying, hyung!"

There was the honorific again. The elder sighed. "Fine, let's say that you aren't afraid." Daehwi walked ahead of Samuel. "Don't worry too much, I'll protect you."

Samuel rushed after him, because for some reason, his hyung was walking faster than usual.

They were very lucky that no one else was exiting that way or else they could have seen everything. The duo probably would not have noticed someone was tailing them either.

…

Lai Guanlin was a novice guard. He still had no idea why the king himself had asked him to follow the two servants with funny clothes. One minute he was minding his own business, just standing guard in front of a door, and the next, he was sent on a wild goose chase. At least, that's what he thought.

"This is great. I get to watch these servants play around while I have to stay out of sight," he grumbled to himself. His duty was to the crown, not a duo of flirting servants. 

Yes, he had seen everything they had done and concluded that they should get married. Guanlin was a fanboy at heart and there was nothing better than a real life drama for him. It was rare he got to witness ANY kind of drama because of his job. If it was his occupation to watch this young couple together, he'd accept it right away. He ducked behind objects more than once because one of them kept turning around towards the castle. His face looked familiar to Guanlin, but he couldn't figure out why. The falling snow didn't help to distinguish the servant's face either.

The pair finally stopped in front of a store that Guanlin wouldn't have noticed. He was glad they were going in because it was starting to get colder. It had some weird name like 101 Bakery or something. The guard was grateful he had changed out of his uniform. He followed them in. Taking a seat in a booth, he took a discarded newspaper from the table and started "reading" it.

"I have a message from King Seungcheol," Guanlin heard the servant with the paper say.

A message? What could King Seungcheol be up to? 

"I see…" The pretty boy behind the counter said while tapping his cheek. His face wasn't scarred with acne which made Guanlin self conscious. Guanlin strained his neck to read the pretty boy's name tag. It said Jihoon. 

"Jinyoung!" Jihoon called. "There's a customer waiting to be served!"

Guanlin looked around the bakery. There wasn't anyone else there except for him and the servants. Which meant-

"What would you like to order?" An equally pretty boy as Jihoon asked him. Guanlin assumed this was Jinyoung since Jihoon had called him that.

"Er, I would like a cup of hot chocolate," requested the novice. He spied the servants being led to the back room.

How was he supposed to follow them now?

Guanlin looked at the newspaper article and gasped. He now knew who the familiar one was.

…

"Hyung, did you see that person following us? What if he knows who I am?" Samuel was clearly upset.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure we lose him," assured Daehwi. He started looking for emergency exits in the store. Daehwi didn't know the person who was stalking them was, but if he made Samuel upset, he'd make sure that the stalker never followed them again.

They were in the back room of the bakery because Jihoon had claimed the king had ordered. Jihoon disappeared to retrieve the item a couple of minutes ago.

"But he might just be here by coincidence," reasoned Samuel, trying to calm himself down.

Daehwi shook his head. "That's unlikely. He kept hiding from you when you kept looking back at the castle."

Samuel winced. "You noticed that?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't deserve the title of the future king's best friend if I didn't notice what you do."

"That's so cheesy, hyung! Ew!" Samuel pretended gag.

Daehwi rolled his eyes. "I'm serious."

"Hi Serious, I'm Samuel!" Samuel giggled to himself at his joke.

"Sammy!"

"What?" He feigned innocence.

"You need to stop."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

At this moment, Jihoon entered the room. "I found it!" he announced, very proud of himself. He carried a medium sized package into the room. "Be sure to deliver this to King Seungcheol. Do you promise?"

The duo nodded in sync. "We promise," they said in unison.

Satisfied, Jihoon handed over the package.

Another waiter walked in. "Jihoon, we need a hot chocolate for our customer." 

Jihoon turned and nodded. "Ok Jinyoung, I'll whip it up in a moment. Or you could prepare it with the Swiss Miss packets. He won't know the difference."

Jinyoung nodded. "Oh, who are these two?" He motioned to the silent pair.

"They're servants from the castle. I have no idea what their names are. What ARE your names?" Jihoon narrowed his eyes.

Neither responded immediately. Finally, Samuel spoke up.

"I'm Sam-." 

Daehwi interrupted. "His name is Sammy."

Samuel glared at Daehwi. Again. Ignoring Samuel's death glare, he continued to speak. "I'm David."

"Well we are Jihoon," Jihoon gestured to himself, and pointed to the waiter, "and he's Jinyoung."

"Nice to meet you!" Jinyoung smiled brightly and made a peace sign with his hand.

"Hi," Samuel said weakly.

"Ditto," Daehwi commented. "Well, we'll be on our way then…A package to transport and all…" He and Samuel edged towards the door.

"Ok, be safe Sammy and David!" Jihoon called.

They slipped through an emergency exit, which didn't alarm for some reason. So it wasn't that good of an emergency exit. It was a great thing for Samuel and Daehwi, but an alarming thing for the next person who needed to sound an alarm. 

Once they were safely away from the bakery, Samuel looked at Daehwi. "What kind of name is David? Really?"

"Yeah, I went by that name when I was living in-"

"Boring!" Samuel yawned. 

It was Daehwi's turn to glare at Samuel.

"I was just going to say-"

"Whatever!"

Daehwi was starting to get angry. "I-"

"MOO!"

Daehwi stomped his foot. "Fine, find your way around town yourself!" He stormed off, still mad.

"Daehwi-!" Samuel started to try to coax him back into helping him navigate the town.

"Boring!" Daehwi put his hands over his ears.

"Hyung-" 

"Whatever!" 

"I was only teasi-"

"MOO!" The future king's best friend left him in the dust.

The crown prince was all alone in the town.

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how I finished 1,400+ words. Comments are appreciated. I don't know what's going to happen next, I'm just writing what I think is fun. If you caught the alarm pun, you are great. (To avoid confusion, Advisor Lee Jihoon is Woozi from Seventeen and Park Jihoon who works in the bakery is from Wanna One.) -Veil


	3. How to lure Daehwi back

Ong Seongwoo was lost. Utterly and completely lost. It was difficult not knowing his way around, but what made it more hard for him was that today he was starting his new life in a strange kingdom. This was shaping out to be a great day. The boy with black hair exhaled with a peeved look on his face. His breath showed up in the winter air. He didn't know anyone at all. How was he supposed to know whom to trust? 

It seemed that today was a festival of some sort. Flags waved crisply in the cool air, and dozens of people were roaming about chattering excitedly. The decorations were spared no expense. Strings of lights were hung on every corner, the aroma of holly branches was in the air, and many stores displayed potential presents. Seongwoo didn't know why they were so eager to have a celebration, and frankly, he didn't care. He just wanted to find his new apartment he was renting and settle in as quickly as he possibly could.

The clusters of people didn't look his way. Maybe it wasn't unusual to see a person with luggages and a rosy red nose in the town square. Seongwoo examined the map on his phone. His location was far away from his destination. An icon stated that the castle where the royals lived was only a seven minute walk. Seongwoo's logic was that the guards outside the palace would maybe be helpful. He turned towards the faint outline of the royal's home and started his walk.

The chilly weather wasn't assisting Seongwoo at all. Snow was falling quickly and transporting his baggages became harder. He spotted a shop a short distance away and headed in that direction. When he struggled through the door, Seongwoo discovered that the shop was a bookstore. With all the technology in the world already, Seongwoo wondered how in the world this cozy bookstore was still operating. 

"May I help you with that?" A voice that didn't seem to have broken from puberty asked.

Seongwoo looked up, but saw no one. Was he imagining it?

"Down here!"

He looked down and found a cute, short boy crossing his arms.

"I don't think you'd be of any help because of your size," Seongwoo said cooly. He hoisted the luggages up and into the store. He couldn't help but be blunt to people, it was his nature.

The boy frowned. He spun around and walked away without another word. 

Seongwoo didn't pay much heed to the kid. It didn't matter to him anyway. The person who offered to help wasn't going to even get the manager or something. 

"Excuse me." The speaker's voice was deeper than the kid who was offering to help a few seconds ago.

Seongwoo looked down, but saw no one. Was he imagining this too?

He glanced up and caught his breath. An older boy than the first was glaring at him. He seemed to be around Seongwoo's age, though he looked younger than Seongwoo. His honey colored hair seemed to be styled perfectly, his body was muscular, and he had a very unamused expression on his face. Seongwoo wondered what this boy would look like when he smiled.

"I heard you were being rude to my employee." The second boy jerked his thumb towards the first, a few feet behind the second boy.

Seongwoo started to become warm, even though the door was propped open a bit. He shook his head, trying to deny what he did.

"I wasn't that rude…" he mumbled.

"Well, you were rude enough for Woojin to become hurt at your careless words." 

"I only meant that he might not be as helpful as he thought he would be." Seongwoo tried to defend himself. He cringed inside at how the words could be taken the wrong way.

The employee was not swayed. This excuse seemed to make him even more ticked off.

"He was just trying to assist you since it looked like you needed help!" 

"I don't like accepting help!" Seongwoo was shocked at his sudden confession. He never told that to anyone, not even the people closest to him.

The employee's face softened. "Oh." His eyes looked like he pitied Seongwoo.

"If you'll excuse me, I think I'll leave now." Seongwoo faced the door and waited. When he didn't hear anything he asked, "Aren't you going to ask me to stay? The snow is going to get deep."

The employee shook his head. "Nope. You deserve to suffer in the weather conditions," he said more cheerfully than Seongwoo liked. 

Seongwoo was disappointed, but not surprised. "Alright, I'll see you never, because I won't be coming back here anytime soon." 

Woojin was watching the whole exchange with a triumphant look in his eyes. Seongwoo saw that and he made sure to slam the door when he left.

After the failed attempt to get the guards to help him, Seongwoo was still not where he needed to be. The battery on his phone practically dead, the baggages were getting heavier by the second, his stomach was growling, and Seongwoo's patience was running extremely thin. Why did he have to move in the winter time? Eventually, he gave up and just roamed around the town. Unfortunately, at this moment, Seongwoo bumped someone. 

"Pretend you like me," the person who just walked into Seongwoo commanded.

The straightforwardness made Seongwoo uneasy. What was with this odd request?

"I don't think so," stated Seongwoo. "I'm having a really bad day, so if you'll excuse me-." 

"I'll treat you to any restaurant." 

Seongwoo's stomach grumbled in agreement. "Deal."

Little did Seongwoo know that the crown prince was taking him out to eat.

…

"Who is HE?" King Jeonghan asked when he first saw Samuel in a carrier.

"He's Samuel," replied King Seungcheol. "I want to adopt him, but I know that you wouldn't be pleased if I adopted him without your consent and-"

At some point, Jeonghan had moved next to the sleeping child and started cooing at Samuel. Seungcheol was glad that Jeonghan had taken a liking to him.

"Wouldn't be pleased? He's perfect!" King Jeonghan declared. "We must make him apart of our family at once! We should give him a birthday. What's the date today?"

"It's the 16th of January."

"Tomorrow will be his birthday!"

"May I ask why?"

"The day is already almost over, we won't have enough time to prepare the party for his birthday," King Jeonghan said.

Seungcheol nodded. "That makes sense."

"When have I ever not made sense?"

The other king opened his mouth to reply, but thought better of it. He instead opted to continue observing Jeonghan marveling at the child's miniature features.

…

Samuel knew he wasn't in any danger. Daehwi would just follow him and make sure that he was safe. It's what he did all the time. The tricky part was getting him to show himself in front of Samuel. From the past times Daehwi left Samuel by himself in the castle, he showed up because the prince had threatened to mess up Daehwi's room in the palace, Samuel had attempted to chop vegetables, and he had led on a servant girl. (Samuel later apologized to the girl claiming that his best friend made him do it. It was technically true because Samuel needed Daehwi by his side again.) It was either destroy a tidy room, wield sharp objects, or gain someone's affection. The first two options were out of the question. 

He decided that looking down and asking the first person he encountered by walked into them was a fair and random way of choosing. Samuel wasn't anticipating a boy, but it was fine. Daehwi would reveal himself soon enough. Samuel actually couldn't figure out why Daehwi showed up during the servant girl incident. He always assumed it was because Daehwi didn't want the girl's feelings to be hurt. Ah, well, it wouldn't matter to Samuel as long as Daehwi came back. 

The boy in front of him waved his hand in Samuel's face. 

"Aren't you going to eat that?" He pointed to the food Samuel's plate.

"No, you can have it. Consider it a gift for doing me a favor."

"Sweet! What's you name by the way?" He said between bites.

"Sammy." Samuel's belly churned, recalling how his best friend called him that occasionally. 

"My name is Ong Seongwoo." 

"Ok Seongwoo, here's the plan. I'm going to pretend to like you, and you have to pretend to like me back. I already bought you your feast, so please cooperate."

Seongwoo nodded. "Whatever you say boss! How do you know you like someone? How does it feel?"

Samuel was puzzled. "You've never liked anyone? So you don't know how this works?"

"Not a clue." Seongwoo smiled and put a hand under his chin. "Please educate me."

"Well…your heart starts racing, you can't see anyone but them, and you're sometimes nervous around them. Something like that. If you're brave enough, you'll confess your liking to that person."

"I see…what are you supposed to do after you confess?"

"Laugh with each other, make each other happy, comfort the other, and so on, I guess," explained Samuel. "I've never confessed, so I don't know either."

"That sounds too easy."

Samuel giggled. "It's how it sounds, but in reality it is very difficult."

"How do you know all of this?" asked Seongwoo. "Do you like someone?"

Before Samuel could answer, Daehwi showed up at the door of the restaurant, eyes blazing.

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't update everyday, chapter 2 was an exception. Oh yeah, I'll be going out of my town for a while, so updates may be further apart. Can any of you guess who the second employee is? The plot line is thickening and I'm excited for the next chapter. I hope you are too! Have a good day/night/afternoon! Feel free to point out any errors. One more thing, do you think I should change the summary? If yes, why? If no, why not? -Veil


	4. Lemon Meringue Pie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANNOUNCEMENT: I will be going out of town for a while, and that will most likely mess up my 1-3 days updating schedule. Please wait patiently for the next update. I MIGHT update one more time before I leave, but we'll see… Enjoy this chapter! (Especially the end.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I have no idea how to make lemon meringue pie, so please correct me if I mess up any ingredients/steps/anything else.

It was a rough day for Guanlin. He found out that he was following the prince from a newspaper! The guard was so embarrassed. He was expected to know what the royal family looked like, for Pete's sake! The thing that made Guanlin most ashamed was losing the prince in the town.

What was he supposed to do when King Seungcheol discovered this incident? Guanlin's feet sped up as he raced through the snow covered town, searching for Prince Samuel and his companion. Come to think of it, Guanlin didn't know the name of the prince's shadow. He had also never seen the shadow never left Prince Samuel's side. 

"Yah! Stop!" A voice broke Guanlin out of his thoughts.

Guanlin skidded to a stop, almost falling over because of the slick ice. He breathed a sigh of relief when he miraculously stopped upright and then realized he was standing in the middle of a huge ice patch. He took a tentative step and fell onto his bottom. The impact was great, and pain instantly erupted from his rear. It was definitely not his day. The guard hesitantly and slowly got up from the cold, hard ground.

"Are you ok?" Concerned eyes met Guanlin's thin figure. "Let's go inside. I'll get you something to help with the aches." The stranger beckoned Guanlin into a building.

Usually Guanlin was wary of strangers, but the sore spot in his bottom was not feeling great at the moment. So he followed the stranger inside as best as he could.

"Here take this," instructed the man. He handed Guanlin a fluffy blanket, a medium sized pillow, and a drink. "Seonho! We might need some bandages. They're in the third cabinet, please fetch them for me!" The stranger made Guanlin sit on a well maintained couch.

Guanlin found his voice when he sat. "I do not think that I am very injured sir. Please let me go, I have some people I need to find." He disregarded the agony he was feeling.

The stranger shook his head. "First, call me Jisung. Second, I'm studying to become a doctor, so I know what I'm doing. Third, you need your injury treated. You will not be getting out of here until I know you aren't feeling any pain," the doctor in training said assertively. "Seonho, where's the bandages?"

"They're getting there!" Scurrying into the warm room, a black haired boy carried an armful of medical bandages. The said Seonho handed the items to Jisung.

"Let's make sure that no bones are broken," Jisung said. He inspected Guanlin's bones and happily declared nothing was in pieces a few minutes later. 

While Jisung continued with the examination, this gave Guanlin the time to collect his thoughts. He considered giving up hope and telling the king what had happened. A split second later, Guanlin was scolding himself internally. He didn't leave his family to give up on his job. The guard gritted his teeth to endure the injury the ice had given him. This seemed like a cruel way the world was punishing him for losing Prince Samuel. Guanlin thought he deserved it too.

"I deeply apologize, by the way," Jisung said.

The patient blinked. "For what?"

"Causing you to get hurt."

"So, why did you call out to me to stop?"

"Because I was worried you were going to hurt yourself."

"I hurt myself anyway," Guanlin deadpanned.

Jisung winced and Seonho smothered a snicker. Seonho earned himself the chore of cleaning the room after Guanlin left.

…

"YOU LITTLE PIECE OF POOP, I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Daehwi snarled.

Samuel casually looked up at Daehwi. "Oh, hi Daehwi, I didn't see you there." He motioned to Seongwoo. "I was just eating a quick meal with my new friend."

"I can see that," Daehwi retorted.

"I'll have you know that Seongwoo hyung here was just going to take me to the Winter Festival. Provided the weather cooperates, of course." Samuel flashed his best friend a smile.

Daehwi inwardly scowled at the honorific. It was like Samuel took all the respect out of his name and transferred it to this Seongwoo guy. 

"He is?" Daehwi glared at Seongwoo for a confirmation.

"I am?" Seongwoo gaped at Samuel. It was a question, not an answer.

"You are," the prince said firmly. 

Seongwoo looked at Daehwi, who was just as shocked as he was. "Excuse us for a moment," he said and dragged Samuel to the bathroom.

"What in the world are you doing?" Seongwoo cried. "That crazy dude out there looks like he's out for blood!"

Samuel shrugged. "He's mostly harmless." 

"MOSTLY?" Seongwoo anxiously ran his hand through his hair. "I still have to unpack into my new apartment! How am I going to do that now?"

"That's fine, we'll do that after we finish eating here."

"No, not with you!" 

Samuel cocked his head to the side. "Why should I not go with you? There'd be more hands to help you with your new apartment. The sooner you unpack, the sooner you get to take me to the festival. After the festival, you'll be relived of the pretending to like me charade. I'll be out of your hair. It's simple."

Seongwoo did understand Samuel's point. "Ok, but please make sure that Daehwi doesn't murder me."

Samuel gave Seongwoo a toothy grin. "I make no guarantees."

"I want to know why you insist on me taking you to the festival."

Samuel's eyes grew dull for a moment, but the light returned as quickly as it left. Seongwoo couldn't tell if it was actually there. 

"I want someone to take me to the festival."

"That Daehwi guy looked pretty put off when you said I was taking you. Maybe he wanted to take you," offered Seongwoo.

"That's only because he has to maintain his image. He probably doesn't want to anyway. He's always complaining about how I'm a royal pain."

"Did you ask him?"

"Nope, and honestly I do not want to. He'll be uncomfortable because he doesn't want to be rude to me."

"Why? Are you some kind of prince or something?"

Samuel didn't answer, but Seongwoo didn't pay attention to that tiny detail.

"Anyway, the real question is, why do you want to continue the charade if you got back what you already wanted?"

Samuel held up the bill. "I paid a lot of money for your meal, Seongwoo hyung. I would like to get something interesting out of it."

…

"Those two servants looked strange," remarked Jihoon. "Maybe it was because of their clothes."

Jinyoung looked at his coworker. "Don't judge them because of their looks! Not everyone can be as good looking as me!" He put his hands under his face and made a cute face at Jihoon.

"Do you WANT to become fired?" Jihoon asked. He dismissed the internal agreement about not everyone being as good looking as Jinyoung. Turning away, he organized the display of pastries in the shop to distract himself. They were the only two working at the bakery at the moment, business was slow during the winter season.

Jinyoung's hands dropped to his sides and he carried on with cleaning the table. He began humming a cheerful tune while working. 

"Ok I finished cleaning!" Jinyoung announced happily. "Let's make some more baked goods!"

Jihoon sighed and complied to Jinyoung's wishes. "Ok, there might be some extra ingredients in the back room. But we are not going to sell it. Your baking skills are a little…"

Jihoon's coworker prompted him, "A little…?"

"A little less than mine."

Jinyoung shrugged. "Ok, I was planning to eat it anyway."

Jihoon followed Jinyoung to the back room. It was Jihoon's favorite place in the entire bakery. You could explore the various ingredients all day if you had the time. Sadly, Jihoon didn't have that precious time.

"Let's make a lemon meringue pie! They're fun to make right?" Jinyoung picked out some eggs from the fridge, sugar, and the rest of the ingredients.

"Jihoonie, can you get the mixing tools out? I have a lot of things I'm holding right now," Jinyoung requested.

"Yeah, yeah."

The pair worked for a while, making the lemon meringue pie. Mixing the egg whites was the hardest part for Jinyoung. They didn't have an electronic beater, causing Jinyoung to use a whisk. He beat the egg whites too slowly so Jihoon had to help. 

"You're supposed to do it like this," Jihoon instructed. He put his hand over Jinyoung's and demonstrated how to beat the egg quickly. "Hold the bowl like this." Jihoon guided Jinyoung's other hand to the edge of the bowl. They were now in a weird back hug position, but they were still whisking. Jihoon hoped Jinyoung couldn't hear how fast his heart was beating and vice versa. Jihoon propped his head on Jinyoung's shoulder to observe the egg whites. It was a little awkward because Jinyoung was taller despite being the younger one.

Jihoon released Jinyoung's hands. "Ok, now you've got the hang of it." He gave Jinyoung a small smile and turned away.

Jinyoung sort of wished Jihoon would have never let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are lucky I'm being merciful and not leaving you on a cliffhanger. Please tell me if you think the plot line is moving too fast, I'd love your feedback! If you read all of this, I'm surprised. I'll even give you a spoiler of what's happening in a few chapters! It has to do with Winkdeep and assuming things~. Feel free to guess in the comments below! -Veil 
> 
> P.S. WHAT WHY DOES THIS BAD STORY HAVE SO MANY VIEWS, I'M SO HAPPY. I honestly thought this would flop like the fish in Spongebob.
> 
> P.P.S. I'm thinking of making a fluffy OR angsty Winkdeep oneshot, what do you guys think? Yes, no? Fluffy, angsty? I have planned plot lines for both ideas because my creativity betrayed me and now I have to choose.


	5. Moving In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Justin is mentioned because I adore him. 
> 
> This chapter is short compared to the other ones, I'm so sorry! Orz Please forgive me, I'm out of town.

Finding Seongwoo's apartment was a success thanks to Daehwi. He grudgingly charmed someone to show them the way. Samuel and Seongwoo were in awe of him. Daehwi still refused to talk to either of them. Instead, he communicated by using his cell phone.

"So Daehwi, how are you feeling today?" Samuel asked cheerfully.

'Betrayed,' Daehwi's phone displayed.

"What's your favorite color?" Seongwoo tried.

'Whatever color you hate.' 

"When will you start talking again?" This time Samuel was trying not to burst out laughing.

'When you stop this petty act.'

"What act? Seongwoo is my good friend!" Samuel glanced at Seongwoo. "Right?"

Seongwoo was quick to agree. He considered this so called Sammy good company. In fact, helping him was the best part of Seongwoo's day. It was interesting to be his sidekick. 

"How're you holding up back there Daehwi?" The eldest asked. Seongwoo had given Daehwi the task to carry the suitcases. 

'I'm not holding up, you first slice of bread in a loaf that nobody wants.'

"Ow, what a burn! Sammy help me!" Seongwoo latched onto Samuel's arm and pouted cutely.

Samuel gave Seongwoo a pat on the head. "There, there, Daehwi has said worse. Be glad you weren't there when he found out he was going to have to be by my side for a while." He gave Seongwoo his trademark smile.

'For the last time, I was surprised! I didn't mean half of the things I said that day!'

Ignoring Daehwi, Samuel spun his father's package on one finger. "Hey, Seongwoo-hyung, what do you think is in here?"

Seongwoo thought for a moment. "Ice for healing our wounds Daehwi gave us." 

They both gave each other a high five and erupted in laughter. Daehwi began regretting his decision to communicate with his phone. Seongwoo and Samuel kept chattering away, not bothering to include Daehwi anymore. Great. Sometimes Daehwi forgot to think things through.

"Here we are!" exclaimed Seongwoo. "My new apartment building!"

"It looks…great," lied the prince. 

The building looked run down and not properly cared for. Its features were a bit unpleasant to be honest. 

'It looks like someone blindfolded themselves with the purpose to make the ugliest building ever.'

Samuel flicked Daehwi in the forehead. "Manners, Daehwi." He motioned to the door. "Let's go in, shall we?"

…

Kang Daniel felt irritated. His day wasn't going as he planned at all. The job he had was stressing Daniel to no end. Annoying customers, rude people, and whining students were always in his shop. He quickly rid his head of these thoughts. There was no time to think about his job.

Daniel focused on the note and the stuffed animal in front of him. Earlier he had found out from his landlord someone new was moving in today. He decided to welcome them with a dish of food or an object to make their new home more welcoming. When he got off from work, he decided to buy a stuffed animal from the Yuehua Gift Shop. Daniel felt as if Justin, the cashier, was laughing internally at him. Or he might just be paranoid. At the same time, it wasn't everyday that a grown man bought a teddy bear and stationary.

Now he wondered if the colorful stationary and the fluffy stuffed animal was too much. It was too late to turn back now. Daniel remembered when his neighbors welcomed him with a party at their place. They called themselves Nu'est and they were the extra of extra. (They threw him a party because he was moving in, what do you think?) He considered giving this present as passing along the good neighbor vibe.

Daniel smile at the thought of the memory. He began to scribble a few words onto the paper, but he determined his hand writing was too messy. The paper crumpled as he crushed it and threw it into his trash can. It was a good thing Daniel bought a whole package of stationary. He rubbed his face and started again. In the end, he wasted 1/5 of the paper. Satisfied, he folded the note and placed it next to the teddy bear.

"There. All finished." Daniel stroked the stuffed animal's fur. He hoped the new neighbor would like it. 

…

"Are you kidding me?" Samuel's jaw went slack at the sight before him.

The apartment Seongwoo was renting looked terrible. Insects were littering the place, cobwebs hid in corners, and a thin layer of dust covered dark surfaces. Good thing they were only standing in the doorway.

"Nope, this is my new apartment!" Seongwoo replied. The peppy tone of his voice seemed forced. "It looks like it could use some tidying."

'It's just as unattractive as Seongwoo is.'

Samuel playfully shoved Daehwi. "Daehwi, be nice to my friend! He isn't THAT ugly is he? For example, I like his moles on his cheek, they're unique."

'No comment.'

"Ok, I'll get the bugs out of here. You guys can start dusting the dust," instructed Seongwoo.

'What are we even supposed to dust with?'

"Look for a disposable towel or something."

'Great. Thanks for that.'

"No problem!" Seongwoo scampered off before Daehwi could do anything else. Behind them, Samuel stifled his giggle.

Daehwi wheeled towards Samuel. 'This is all you fault we're in this mess!' 

The prince raised his hands in surrender. "What did I do?"

'You HAD to pull this stunt on me and now we're stuck helping some peasant move into an apartment!' If Daehwi's glare could hurt, the look he was giving Samuel was murdering him. 

"I have not the faintest idea what you are saying."

'YOU'RE SO FRUSTRATING! Let's dust some things and go to the festival.'

"Um, what are you talking about? Seongwoo-hyung is going to take me to the festival!" Samuel stubbornly crossed his arms. "It's not like anyone was going to take me besides him."

Daehwi clenched his fists, but hid it from Samuel. He didn't want to make Samuel realize how unnerved he was.

"By the way, do you know where any paper towels are?"

Still not talking, Daehwi started to help Samuel look for paper towels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The WiFi where I am is pretty slow, but I'll try my best to update. 
> 
> This story has 1,000+ hits! Yay! Thank you guys so much, I feel so happy. It encourages me to write more for you. That Winkdeep one-shot is in the works… Please anticipate it! 
> 
> Can anyone guess who's Daniel's new neighbor? -Veil


	6. Baejin Gets Annoyed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't edited properly, enjoy this raw chapter for now. If you get the Monsta X reference, you are great.

"You would think that you'd get something done," sighed King Jeonghan.

Seungcheol looked up from his bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch innocently. "I've been doing a lot of things today. What about you?"

"I slept. You need to take proper care of your body you know," reminded King Jeonghan.

"Mhm," King Seungcheol mumbled through his tasty cereal. "Whatever."

Jeonghan ruffled his mused hair. "So what did you do today? It's the middle of the day and you actually got something done?" Unbelieving, he put his hands on his hips.

Seungcheol muttered something that Jeonghan couldn't hear in response.

"Please say it so I can hear it. You're a king and you can't enunciate? Preposterous!" 

Seungcheol swallowed the last of his cinnamon squares. "I sent some servants to deliver a letter. That's basically it." He studied his bowl, suddenly very interested in its design.

Jeonghan raised his eyebrows, but didn't question it. Instead, he stole a bite of his spouse's cereal. 

"Hey!" exclaimed King Seungcheol. 

"Hay is for horses," teased King Jeonghan. "I'm going to plan our son's wedding, so leave me be."

"He's only a teenager!"

"How endearing, you still think he's a teenager."

"Wait, what?"

"I must be prepared for the future! You may continue scheming about Samhwi or whatever you call them. I'll do the other stuff. Bye!" Jeonghan stuck his tongue out at Seungcheol and ran out of the room.

Seungcheol shook his head. What was he going to do about his angel? After pondering for a bit, he made a decision he knew Jihoon would not like.

"Call the court jesters," he ordered to Jihoon who had watched the entire conversation. "I need their advice."

…

When Guanlin woke up, he had to recollect his memory to remember where he was. He was sprawled on the couch he was sitting on when Jisung was inspecting him. The dark cushions actually felt comfy for a new sofa.

"Are you awake?" Seonho asked. He had been assigned to watch over Guanlin.

"If my eyes are open, then yes." Guanlin yawned. "How long was I asleep?"

"Long enough to make me almost doze off."

"Half an hour?"

"Ha, that's funny. Two hours." 

"Two hours!? Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Because I wanted to watch you sleep." 

"That's creepy, Seonho."

"You snore, by the way."

"Goodbye." Guanlin grabbed his things and rushed out of the room. Unfortunately, Jisung blocked his way out of the building. 

"Going so soon?" Jisung remarked. 

Flashbacks of horror movies played in Guanlin's head. If they attacked him, he could try to fight them off with his limbs. Alert, his eyes searched for potential exits.

"We have some food for you to eat." Jisung offered Guanlin a plate of small treats.

"No thank you," Guanlin declined. "I really need to go." He mentally prayed Prince Samuel and Daehwi didn't return to the castle. If they had returned without Guanlin, King Seungcheol would be very suspicious.

"I see. Well, you suffered no life threatening injuries, just be very cautious when sitting down," advised the doctor in training. "And no more running on ice."

"Sir, yes sir!" Guanlin gave a salute and a lopsided grin. "Bye!" He dashed away, not sure whether to thank them or report them for being unnerving. Either way, he had some people to find. The question was, how?

…

The lemon meringue pie turned out to be very tasty. Jinyoung felt very proud of himself for doing most of the work. He made note to bake it again with Jihoon. (Not only because he was good company)

Unluckily, Jinyoung had to wash the dishes at the end of the snack. He disliked doing the dishes very much. The bakery's dishwasher had been broken for a while, and Jihoon didn't want to replace it. The tower of dirty plates, bowls, and utensils taunted Jinyoung. He sighed and got to work.

"I want to go to the Winter Festival," whined Jihoon after Jinyoung finished. "I'd like to play their games."

"Then go yourself." Jinyoung blamed the huge amount of work. If it wasn't for that, he wouldn't have been so tired and maybe he'd have the strength to go.

"But I want to go with someone!" Jihoon pouted, which didn't help the situation or Jiinyoung. "Come on, let's go." He tugged on Jinyoung's arm.

"I feel too tired," complained Jinyoung. "The festival lasts for a few days or something, right?"

"It doesn't matter, I want to go now!" Jihoon stomped his foot.

"Why can't you be considerate and let me rest first?!" 

Silence filled the empty air. Jihoon's face contorted into a hurt look. Confusion and sadness could be seen clearly on his delicate features. 

Jinyoung ran a hand through his hair. "Jihoon, I'm just a little exhausted. I'll go to the festival with you later."

"Ok." Jihoon hid his displeasure well, but Jinyoung knew him long enough to know that he was still hurt.

"Fine! I'll go now," Jinyoung caved in. Why was he always helpless against his hyung? Jinyoung put on his coat and other winter necessities. 

"Yay!" Jihoon latched onto his dongsaeng's arm and smiled brightly.

"Let's go," said Jinyoung. He ignored the blush on his own face that wasn't from the cold.

…

Seongwoo tripped over a stuffed teddy bear when he left to check on his new found friends. (If you could even call them that.) Samuel and Daehwi had gone to the convenience store for dusters or something similar to that. 

He picked the innocent looking bear by the arms tentatively. Who in the world would abandon such an adorable stuffed animal? Seongwoo then noticed a piece of paper carefully tucked in the soft, velvety bow tied to its neck. Plucking it out, he unfolded it and gently placed the teddy bear in the crook of his arms. 

'Dear new neighbor,  
Hello! I'm Kang Daniel, your neighbor right across from your apartment. Maybe we'll meet sometime. I wanted to give this present to you. It's for making your new apartment more like home. I hope you take good care of it! I'm sorry I couldn't cook you anything, I only found out about you moving in earlier. Welcome to your new home! (I'm passing on the good neighbor vibe, so make sure you do the same to any new people! Thanks.)  
From,  
Kang Daniel'

Seongwoo gazed at the teddy bear. It was his first gift he received to make his new home a bit more cheerful. He was sure to treasure it greatly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's almost been a week since I've last updated, I'm super sorry! I'm still out of town, so… 
> 
> Relationships statuses  
> Samhwi: Still slow as Snorlax  
> Winkdeep: Getting there??  
> OngNiel: ????? (Wait and see)  
> Jeongcheol: They're married…
> 
> Guanlin is single and needs no one! 
> 
> Winkdeep fic is a W.I.P. and will not be up for a while. Instead, enjoy my Winkdeep moments I've put in the chapters. What do you guys think of the added summary? Better or worse? (I changed it because the tag to summary ratio was bothering me.) -Veil


	7. Earmuffs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edit: WANNA ONE IS DEBUTING, PLEASE SUPPORT THEM.

The walk to the store felt rather long. Snow had stopped falling for now, and Samuel and Daehwi were extremely grateful for that. It made their trip easier. Of course some banter between the two ensued.

"What do you think the price is for a duster, Daehwi?"

'More than you have with you.'

"I have some bills somewhere here…" Samuel searched his pockets. Being the prepared person he was, he usually carried a bit of cash with him. "Aha!" He proudly held up some crumpled bills.

'Put those down! People might steal them from you!'

Samuel could practically hear Daehwi hissing this warning.

"So, Daehwi, why aren't you talking? It seems to me that you're an attention seeker," Samuel stated as the pair entered the semi-large convenience store.

"I am NOT seeking attention!" Daehwi cried and immediately clasped his hand over his mouth. He regretted all his life choices in that instant.

"Behold! The mute has regained the ability to speak!" Amused, Samuel did a jazz hands move. Obvious sarcasm dripped from the words like honey. "If you're not seeking attention, then why are you not talking?" 

Daehwi gave up using his phone for communication. "I sense something fishy about that Seongwoo guy. Maybe he knows who you are and that's why he approached you."

Daehwi thought that Seongwoo went to Samuel or something. Samuel decided against telling Daehwi that he dragged Seongwoo into being his friend. Daehwi would not be happy if he knew. The fact that Seongwoo was humoring Samuel by pretending to be interested in him already made Samuel feel guilty. How many more lies would Samuel have to tell?

Daehwi continued on rambling. "…and could be up to no good. I just don't trust him! What are your thoughts Samuel?"

"I think that you are going to run into the shelf." Grabbing Daehwi's hand, the prince jerked his friend back towards him to prevent an accident. Samuel pointed to the stacks of items Daehwi would've run into. "Watch where you're going."

"Oh…" 

"Come on, we need to hurry up. Seongwoo-hyung will be waiting for us." Samuel began walking to the cleaning aisle.

"Samuel…"

The prince looked back to find Daehwi wearing a strange expression. Samuel couldn't quite tell what Daehwi was feeling or thinking.

"Yeah?"

Samuel followed Daehwi's gaze to his hand which Samuel was still holding. 

"You're still holding my hand."

Samuel grinned flirtatiously. "I know."

They proceeded to buy the dusting tool, still holding hands.

…

The bugs had long left the apartment because of Seongwoo's knack of squishing them with his shoes. Cobwebs were nonexistent thanks to them all being on the floor for some reason. However, Seongwoo didn't touch the dust. He purposely left that chore for Sammy and Daehwi. His clothes and other things in his luggages still had to be unpacked, but that could wait a little more. Right now, to Seongwoo, this was more important.

Seongwoo got out a pen and the letter Daniel left for him. Seongwoo tapped the point of the pen to the back of the stationary. The apartment was still a mess, but he felt obliged to send a thank you note back to his neighbor. Unfortunately, he didn't have any paper. So here he was, writing a thank you on the back of the cute stationary. Seongwoo checked the front of the paper for the millionth time, confirming the address of his neighbor. 

But what was he supposed to write besides thanks? Maybe something saying his new apartment is very dirty and his friends abandoned him to argue (read: flirt) some more. Seongwoo frowned and shook his head. This Daniel dude wouldn't be interested in that. At least he sounded nice in his letter though.

In the end, Seongwoo signed the letter with a flourish. He looked triumphant because he had written it in one go. Then he folded it and slid it under Daniel's door. Seongwoo hoped, for some reason, Daniel would write back. Marching back to his home, he unwillingly began sorting out his things once more. Cleaning was difficult for him. Maybe it was because Seongwoo carried the teddy bear in his arms the entire time.

…

"Jihoon, I don't think this is a good idea," Jinyoung warned. "It's going to snow again soon." He looked nervously to the threatening sky. The temperature was strangely pleasant even though flurries fell earlier.

Jihoon didn't pay attention to his dongsaeng. "It's not that chilly anymore! The weather is perfect for attending the festival," he insisted.

"You better be paying," said Jinyoung under his breath.

"Hm?"

"I said nothing important."

"Ok, we're almost there!" Jihoon bounced up and down excitedly.

Jinyoung couldn't get the growing smile off his face. Jihoon was always adorable without trying to be. (That's what Jinyoung thought anyway.)

"Ooh, we're here!" Jihoon squealed. He pulled Jinyoung to the nearest booth and started looking for things to buy.

"It isn't a wise idea to start buying things right away."

"I'll take these two. Thank you!" Jihoon paid the person working and handed Jinyoung earmuffs with a halo attached to it by a wire. 

"What is this for?" asked Jinyoung. He already had a winter hat on and didn't really need earmuffs.

"This is my thank you gift for going with me here! Won't you wear it, Jinyoungie?" With pleading eyes, Jihoon looked at Jinyoung.

"I'm not really an earmuffs kind of person, Jihoonie. I don't even wear them."

"Please?"

"Will you start making better choices with your money?"

"Maybe." 

Jinyoung rolled his eyes. "Then MAYBE I'll wear it."

"Ok, I will! Put it on already, I want to see how it looks on you!" Jihoon took the earmuffs from Jinyoung's hands, tiptoed a little, and placed it on Jinyoung. He clapped his hands to show his approval. "It looks great!" 

"I beg to differ." The younger looked at his phone's camera. It showed a person with a failed attempt at resembling an angel.

From the bag the worker gave him, Jihoon pulled out the other pair of earmuffs he bought. 

"Tada!" Jihoon put it on and showed Jinyoung. "The earmuffs were a set." Red horns were the highlight of this pair. "Now we match!" He beamed at his dongsaeng.

Jinyoung definitely did not do these couple type things, but when your crush makes you, you can't resist. So, Jinyoung allowed himself to be led to another area, looking forward to whatever antics Jihoon would do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SAMUEL DEBUTED, I'M ON THE FLOOR HE HAD FANCHANTS AND EVERYTHING I'M SO PROUD ㅠㅠㅠㅠ I feel so old. Please support him on his debut! Garnets unite!
> 
> Seventeen's tour is ongoing and I'm not gonna go, someone cry with me. I'm so behind on their variety shows, hahahahha *sobs* I don't have time.
> 
> I put Winkdeep moments in here, because where are their interactions? Once again, sorry it's short!
> 
> So…anyone else waiting for Infinite to come out of hibernation? Inspirits where are you?? 
> 
> *spoilers for Wanna One Go episode 1 ahead, take caution*  
> seonhoisvisitingminhyunandjaehwanwith3morepeople,letmelive  
> ongnielissciencethey'regreattogether  
> whereiswinkdeepi'mwaiting(asmuchasiloveandrespectjinhwiandpanwinkwhereisWINKDEEP*shakesfists* -Veil


	8. Winkdeep's Chapter ft. Samhwi and a single Guanlin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *deep breath* oK WHO THE HECK DECIDED TO TWEET ABOUT MY STORY (I'M LOOKING AT YOU MYLES. [@jeonghanesque]) I was just scrolling through Twitter, looking through the Samhwi posts and I see a tweet. Oh not just any tweet, a tweet with a link to a story on AO3. The tweet mentioned Samhwi and Jeongcheol which I thought was really similar to this story. I got the idea that it was my fic, but I laughed it off. I clicked it and BAM! My fanfiction. Look what you did to my wig. I'd like you to order me a new one, I can't even afford a SEVENTEEN CONCERT TICKET. *abuses imaginary desk*
> 
> Special shoutout to @YanAnie for finding me on Wattpad and all that. Thank you! *sends hugs* 
> 
> Oh yeah, enjoy the 1,900+ word chapter and PLEASE read the notes at the end, they're important. I'm very sorry for making you guys wait, but hey you got an extra long chapter. Enjoy!
> 
> It's the older Woojin mentioned.

Guanlin ran. Which was a very bad idea, considering that he was injured, but he was willing to risk it. His whole job and reputation was on the line! If he got fired, how would he be able to support his family? Bad luck always followed him everywhere. It would not be a good thing to add to his résumé. In his head, Guanlin hoped that the prince and his friend had not gone anywhere dangerous. 

He sped throughout town, searching and searching. The guard stopped multiple times to ask pedestrians about average height boys with dark hair wandering around. All of them didn't see anyone who fit those descriptions. Guanlin thanked them anyway for their time. This became a routine for him, it made Guanlin want to cry. Why did bad things always happen to him?

At last, Guanlin got an idea. It was so obvious, Guanlin wanted to facepalm himself for being dumb. Why not go back to the bakery where he saw them last and ask the workers where they were? He couldn't run anymore because he was out of breath. Instead he power walked, not even caring that he looked like an old grandma exercising. 

When he reached the bakery, he was greeted with a sign saying it was closed. Guanlin slumped down, leaning on the wall for support. Great. Just great. Sullenly, he turned to leave, but something caught his eye. A piece of paper taped to the bottom of the sign. It said this,

'Woojin hyung, we decided to close the shop because no one was buying anything. We hope you aren't mad! If you want to find us, we'll be at the Winter Festival. We also hope you had fun on your date~  
Gratitude for not cutting our pay wage,  
Jihoonie and Jinyoungie'

Guanlin squared his shoulders and stood up straight. The Winter Festival. That's his destination. Now to find where in the festival Jihoon and Jinyoung were. Weak with relief, he began to jog towards the biggest festival of the year.

…

Jihoon thought it was a good idea to have a hot chocolate drinking contest. Jinyoung thought otherwise. It was a horrible idea to him.

"Come on Jinyoung, it'll be fun! I promise!" Jihoon bugged Jinyoung while he was looking for items to purchase for fifteen minutes straight. It was not an easy task ignoring Jihoon. Jinyoung gave in when Jihoon promised to pay for all of it. How could you refuse free drinks?

They went to the food tent a few minutes walk away. It wasn't that full, everyone else was probably buying things or enjoying the planned activities. 

"Which booth that's selling hot chocolate do you want to go to?" Jihoon asked.

Jinyoung pointed to the booth with the cheapest price. "That one."

When they got to the front of the really short line, Jihoon had a dilemma.

"I can't pick between big marshmallows or small marshmallows. Help me Jinyoungie!" 

"If you can't pick, just don't have any marshmallows," Jinyoung replied. He had ordered a hot chocolate without any marshmallows, so he was rather impartial.

"But marshmallows are half the fun!" Jihoon protested. "I'll have the large ones," he told the worker.

When the hot chocolate was served, Jinyoung eyed the tall, hot drink warily. 

"I'm starting to regret I agreed," the younger said.

Jihoon grinned. "That's too bad. Here's the rules, you must finish all of the drink as quickly as you possibly can and you need to tell the other person when you're done. Simple. Three, two, one, go!"

The two boys lifted the hot chocolate and began to chug.

Jinyoung and Jihoon began to feel the heat immediately. Neither stopped because of their pride. It was a miracle that the drink didn't splatter all over the snow. Soon, Jinyoung slammed down the mug.

"I win!" Jinyoung mentally patted himself on the back. He had won!

As Jihoon looked up with a hot chocolate mustache, he looked very disappointed. "Aww, that's not fair." He drank the rest of his drink and threw their cups in the trash. Jihoon's mustache rubbed off sometime then.

They wandered around the festival, with the goal of playing games in mind. Finally, Jihoon spotted the game section.

"It's over there Jinyoungie! Hurry up!"

"Oh no, gravity is taking over my body!" Jinyoung pretended to fall on his hyung. "I can't move!"

"Stop quoting Lilo and Stitch, this is not funny!" A slight punch in the arm from Jihoon did the trick in getting Jinyoung to move again.

Pretending to be hurt, Jinyoung faked an injury. "Blood! Blood, spewing everywhere! Death." He collapsed on his coworker's shoulder.

"I don't even think that Zootopia quote was right," commented Jihoon as he struggled to push Jinyoung upright. "Come on, I want to play the games! Let me live!" He made a face at Jinyoung.

"Alright, alright!" Jinyoung felt amused to see his hyung annoyed.

Immediately, Jihoon dragged Jinyoung to a game booth with huge plush toys as prizes. Two people were running it. One was explaining the rules to a customer and the other was playing a guitar and singing softly to himself.

"I'd like to play this game," Jihoon announced to the person with the guitar.

The worker looked up. "Please pay the fee first." He nodded to the sign with the fee written on it.

Jihoon handed over the required money. The person took it and put it in his pocket.

"Ok, you have to toss a ring onto the bottle's neck. If you get one on a green bottle's neck, you win a small prize." He gestured to the lamer, small toys. "If you get it on one of the red bottles in the middle, you get to pick any of the big stuffed animals. You can also win a big prize by getting two rings on a green bottle. It doesn't have to be the same green bottle to win the large prize. Good luck, don't cry if you don't win."

The other worker swatted guitar dude. It seemed his customers left the counter. "Jaehwan-hyung! That's not nice! They're our customers, you have to be polite."

"Sewoon, I'm generally not nice, you should know that by now." Even so, with a roll of his eyes, Jaehwan muttered an apology to Jihoon and Jinyoung.

Sewoon smiled apologetically and handed them the basket of rings. "Have fun!"

Because there wasn't anyone else at the game, Sewoon and Jaehwan stayed and watched Jihoon and Jinyoung. Jaehwan began plucking at the guitar's strings, probably composing an ode that proclaimed, "You failed at the game!".

"Ok Jihoonie, do you want to go for the red bottles?" Jinyoung asked.

"Definitely!"

There were only a couple red bottles in the middle, but Jihoon and Jinyoung felt determined to win a big prize. After a few failed attempts, a wild ring miraculously landed on a bottle. A green bottle.

"I suggest aiming for green bottles now. It's easier for the rings to land on because they're closer. If you get a ring to go on another green bottle, you still get a big prize," commented Sewoon.

"Thanks for the tip!" Jihoon beamed at Sewoon. Jinyoung felt a surge of jealousy.

"No problem."

"Our basket is running out of rings, this is our last chance Jinyoungie. Hopefully we can win a prize," said Jihoon. "Let's give it our best shot!"

Jinyoung nodded in agreement.

They continued with the ring tossing. On the last ring, Jihoon closed his eyes tightly and wished with all his might.

"After you throw that, both of you close your eyes for good luck. Don't open your eyes until I say the ring landed," Jaehwan said nonchalantly. Sewoon raised his eyebrows.

More than happy to have the element of surprise and hope on his side, Jihoon complied and threw the ring. Jinyoung reluctantly closed his eyes as well.

When they opened their eyes, the thrown ring was on a green bottle!

Jihoon was ecstatic. 

"Congratulations!" Sewoon applauded them. "Which toy do you want?" He began to climb up the ladder.

Jaehwan played a tune on his guitar. "You did it, you did it! Hooray!" As he kept on warbling, Jihoon and Jinyoung stopped listening.

Taking a liking to the large, brown, and stuffed dog, Jihoon requested that to be given to him. Soon he held the animal in his arms. The size of the toy was so huge, he had to hold it with both arms. 

"Thank you!" Jihoon said.

"Do you want a Polaroid picture? I have a camera with me," offered Sewoon.

"Why in the world do you have a Polaroid camera with you?" Jinyoung exclaimed. "Would it even work properly in this cold weather?"

"Jaehwan wanted a photo during our date after this, so I brought it with me," explained Sewoon. "And I think it dries properly. Don't blame me if it doesn't."

So Jaehwan really was soft in the inside. Somewhere in there beneath all of the savagery. 

"Yes please!" Jihoon agreed and struck different poses as he said different descriptions. "Shall it be a normal, wacky, or cute picture?"

Jinyoung brought his hand to his face. Why did he like this dork again? "If normal is just smiling, then normal." His response was a little muffled because of his hand.

From a his bag, Sewoon retrieved the Polaroid camera. He handed it to Jaehwan. The latter boy's cheeks was noticeably redder than before. Maybe it was because Sewoon exposed his gentler side.

"Get ready, I'm going to take the picture," warned Jaehwan.

The awkward bakers smiled at the camera.

"You guys need to get closer. The screen isn't big enough and you're too far apart," said Jaehwan. "Geez, you act like you aren't together."

Jinyoung couldn't argue because at that moment, Jihoon stepped in and leaned his head on Jinyoung's shoulder. He held the prize proudly in front of them and beamed. Jinyoung could only look down at his hyung.

A click was heard and the photograph was sliding out a second later. Sewoon grabbed it and placed it on the counter. 

"One more, this time a cute picture!" Jaehwan called.

With his hands, Jinyoung made a heart sign and did his eyesmile. Jihoon hugged the teddy bear and winked at the camera.

"Perfect!" Jaehwan said. "Who wants which one?" He held both of the pictures up. The faint outlines of the second Polaroid were beginning to appear. 

"I'd like the second one," requested Jinyoung. He knew he had looked like a fool in the first one. 

Jaehwan handed them over to their respective owners. "Come back soon!" He waved his guitar instead of his hand, which almost hit Sewoon in the head.

Jihoon and Jinyoung left. Then, as soon as they were gone, an accusing atmosphere replaced the cheery one. 

"Close your eyes for good luck? What utter nonsense is that?" Sewoon shot at Jaehwan.

"Do you want a Polaroid picture?" Jaehwan spat back.

"The screen isn't big enough?"

"A photo after our date?"

Sewoon and Jaehwan glared at each other before finally dissolving into laughter. 

"So, Jaehwan," Sewoon said casually. "why did you put the ring onto the second bottle?"

…

"My feet ache!" This was the millionth complaint from Prince Samuel to count. At least, that's what Daehwi thought.

"We're almost there, hold on a while longer." Daehwi continued to trudge. "You weren't that vocal about the distance earlier."

"That's because I was thinking."

"Sounds dangerous."

"It is."

A comfortable silence fell like a blanket between them. Neither wanted to be the first one to break the peace. They arrived at Seongwoo's new home sooner than either of them liked.

"Ok, I'll bite, what were you thinking?" Daehwi asked as they were about to enter the apartment.

Samuel didn't respond. This didn't help Daehwi's erratic heartbeat one bit.

More silence. Then, a voice.

"Us."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember how a tag says mostly fluff? MOSTLY. You may proceed to panic.
> 
> One day I sat down and made myself finish the backstories, motives, and that good stuff. As a warning, this will not all be cute, and adorable. Beware. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Stick around to find out more.
> 
> I have some songs to recommend for y'all to listen to (if you want) while you read the…non-fluff chapters. Hehe. Please tell me if you'd like me to recommend the songs during the other chapters.
> 
> Honestly, I had the plot for this chapter planned out, but my heart was like, "Nope, give them Samhwi." 
> 
> I still don't know how long this will be. 
> 
> As for my updating schedule, school is right around the corner for me, but I'll try my best to update once a week. (Maybe twice if I'm lucky.) I'm also back in my town. Yay!
> 
> If ever anyone wants to do fanart or whatever (IF EVER and WANTS TO are the words I'm emphasizing here. You don't have to haha) please notify me so I can see it! I just ask you kindly drop the story link in the description.)
> 
> Can anyone guess who was Woojin's date? Jinyoung wrote the note, so that's why it's Woojin-hyung.
> 
> Have a nice day/night/afternoon! Thank you for waiting! 
> 
> A HUGE thank you to you guys for making this reach 1,800+ hits. I'm so happy right now. <33
> 
> WINKDEEP IS ALIVE WINKDEEP IS ALIVE WHAT IS JINHWI I ONLY KNOW WINKDEEP THEY'RE BACK TO HAUNT US I FEEL ATTACKED WE WERE IN A DROUGHT THEN THEY DECIDED TO DROWN US I FEEL BLESSED THANK YOU I CAN ALMOST DIE HAPPY THANK YOU THEY DIDN'T DIE I TOLD YOU (please excuse me, Winkdeep is alive and I'm going crazy over it)
> 
> (Fun Fact: I'm on Seungkwan's route in @softtrapline's Twitter game. My bias! I'm not dead yet.) -Veil


	9. Where's Ongniel?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I listened to this masterpiece while writing this, so it'd be cool if you guys listened to this while reading! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LYN6DRDQcjI Shout out to EXOLJHopelover on aff. Hahaha.
> 
> For future chapters, if I don't recommend any songs, you're welcome to listen to that. *smiles nervously*
> 
> Thank you guys so much for 2k+ hits! I'm so grateful! <3 Enjoy this chapter!

[Masterpiece to listen to while reading](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LYN6DRDQcjI)

Seungcheol didn't particularly think he made bad decisions, but he knew this one was pretty bad. He had called on the court jesters to help him with his son since they were some of the king's closest friends. Unfortunately, the trio treated Seungcheol like they always did.

"So what's your problem, your royal highness?" Asked Soonyoung with the feeling of mockery hinted behind the question.

"Soonyoung, I told you not to call me that," Seungcheol grumbled. These three liked to often remind him of his status in the kingdom. It put pressure on him and his friends knew it.

Seokmin bowed formally. "Please accept our deepest apologies, your majesty who has the power to do virtually anything in this wonderful kingdom he is ruling." He grinned. "How was that?"

"This is supposed to be a serious matter!" Seungcheol knew he was losing control of the situation.

"We know, your highest ruler. We're just making it hard for you. You need to loosen up a little. Are you feeling a bit stressed?" Seungkwan continued to list other possible problems.

"Perhaps our most honored one would like a cup of tea to relax? I would gladly call up Chef Mingyu to whip up something," Soonyoung solemnly offered.

Seungcheol blinked. "I thought I made Mingyu a guard."

"So did I," Soonyoung leaned in as if sharing a secret. "until I learned he's jack of all trades who can cook, clean, and do many other tasks if you ask him to. He seriously has so many talents other than standing like a model while protecting you royals."

The king put his fingers to the side of his temple. "Let me guess, you made him do your chores for you or something during his breaks."

BooSeokSoon beamed in unison. "How did you guess?"

Seungcheol groaned. "Leave him alone, he has a job to do."

The three jesters looked disappointed, but not surprised.

"What's the dilemma you're in, oh mighty one?" Seungkwan asked. "Did another firework blow up in your face?" He smirked.

"That was so long ago, why do you still remember that?" Seungcheol still vividly remembered how he got surprised with that rogue firework.

"My brain retains all the information about one of the most adored people in the kingdom."

"When is my birthday?" Seungcheol challenged.

After a minute of thinking, Seungkwan shrugged without shame. "Apparently I can only recall embarrassing moments about our royal king."

"Remember when we had a group-" Seokmin started.

"Ok, that's enough of that memory," interrupted Seungcheol. "We're really going nowhere with this. Why did I think this would be a good idea?"

"Because we are very good at our job," Soonyoung said.

Seungcheol squinted at his friends. "I don't think it was because of that."

As their voices began overlapping suggesting other reasons, the king began debating if leaving the room suddenly would be considered rude.

"Oh Jihoon-hyung, how are you?" Seungkwan greeted his old friend.

"I'm fine." Jihoon's reply was clipped and short. (Just like his height.)

"Good, good."

Seungkwan and Jihoon struck up a conversation while Seokmin and Soonyoung were being themselves. Seungcheol wondered when the meeting went wrong.

"We have a crisis here, people. Try to pay attention please." Clapping his hands to get their attention, the king took back control.

The jesters faced him.

"The problem is…?" Seokmin prompted.

"It's not really a problem, I just need advice," insisted Seungcheol.

"Don't you already have someone for that?" Soonyoung looked at Jihoon pointedly. Jihoon glared back.

"Yes, but-"

"Ooh, are we going to take Jihoon-hyung's place?" Seungkwan speculated. He imagined a higher pay and better treatment.

"Um, no."

"I'd like to apply for his job anyway!" Seokmin volunteered.

Jihoon looked so done with his friends. But being the repectful man he was, he decided not to retort. He was somewhat used to it anyway.

The jesters began to chat amongst themselves again.

"Why did I hire you guys again?"

"Because we're your friends!"

"Remind me to fire you soon."

They began to protest, which made Seungcheol regret his decision. His headache got worse by the minute. Just then, his angel walked in.

"What is going on here?" Jeonghan murmured. He squinted his eyes. "Didn't I tell you only to summon these three people during emergency situations? It's bad enough they're still living here because no one will give them jobs except us."

"Yeah I know, but I needed some information on what to do about Samuel," said Seungcheol.

Jeonghan brightened at the mention of their son. "Speaking of Samuel, I have come up with a fool proof way to get him to date Daehwi." The king looked at Seungcheol expectantly, waiting to see is reaction.

"The last time you said that was when you tried to get Meanie together. Look how that turned out."

"It turned out perfectly, if I do say so myself."

"If you call having to resort to kidnapping Wonwoo to make him go on a date with Mingyu perfect, you need a dictionary."

"Well, I probably won't do that this time."

"Only probably?"

Jeonghan shrugged. "I can't make any promises." He sauntered out of the room, leaving Seungcheol with three jesters, a right hand man, and a huge headache.

…

Seongwoo felt giddy with joy. He moved into his new apartment successfully, though under strange conditions. Only a few more things to unpack from his luggage and he'd be ready to go. The moving truck called him to report that his belongings would be delivered tomorrow because of traffic.

There were a few bad things about his apartment though. The heater wasn't working at all because no one bothered to paid the electricity company. Seongwoo became annoyed for a few minutes, but realized that he could use that as an excuse to ask Sammy to stay with him for the night. His act needed to be convincing after all.

The door opened, revealing his new companions. Actually, Seongwoo didn't know what to call them. Friends? Strangers? Crazy in love with each other but neither of them know it? People are so complicated.

"Speak of the devils," muttered Seongwoo.

"What did you just call us?" The so called Daehwi was seething. Seongwoo assumed it was because he insulted Daehwi's crush.

"Nothing important. Want to take a tour of my new home? Provided you dust everything of course." Seongwoo eyed the dusters.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," grumbled Daehwi. He grudgingly took them out of the bag and handed one to Samuel.

"Here," Seongwoo started, "is the wonderful kitchen. There's an ancient refrigerator already installed, so yay! The usual appliances are there too, the microwave, oven, stove, dishwasher, sink, you name it." He watched them dust until they were done.

"The next place is the bathroom. I don't think there's anything out of the ordinary worth mentioning, so start dusting!" Seongwoo took them to his bedroom next. "My bedroom is practically bare, everything was taken down from then room. I don't think you need to dust anything here."

"What about that?" Samuel pointed to the heater and air conditioner.

"Oh, it doesn't work." Seongwoo turned to leave the room.

Samuel frowned. "But you're sleeping here tonight, right?"

"Yup."

"How're you going to stay warm?"

"I'll have my handy, dandy sleeping bag!"

He looked conflicted, though Seongwoo couldn't imagine what about. After a moment of hesitation, Samuel spoke.

"Would you like to sleep at my place then?" Samuel offered.

"Sammy, I appreciate the offer, but I don't think your place will be big enough for the both of us. You're still a teenager who probably has to work double shifts to earn money."

Daehwi snickered.

Samuel looked confused. "But I live in the cas-"

Daehwi proceeded to pinch Samuel in the arm. The prince looked confused and hurt.

"Oh dear me, there was a fly on his arm! Seongwoo why didn't you clean up properly?" Daehwi laughed nervously.

"I did."

"Ahaha, how funny of you Seongwoo. Let's go to the next room! Come along now." Dragging both of them put of the room, Daehwi felt relieved that Samuel didn't slip up too badly.

When the apartment was as spotless as it could possibly be, they decided to go to the festival. While they were getting ready to leave, Seongwoo walked to a window to see the scenery. He then spotted a certain someone entering a car. To him, it seemed as if it was the rude bookstore worker. Seongwoo rubbed his eyes, but the car drove away before he could confirm the identity.

"Seongwoo, are you going with us or not?" Samuel called.

"Yeah, I just thought I saw something." Seongwoo put on his jacket and boots. "Let's go."

…

If the bakers weren't there, Guanlin promised himself that he would flip a table. He jogged for a while then switched to walking. Breathless, he took note never to take up a career in track.

Sweet scents, playing children, and multiple booths filled Guanlin's vision. He searched for the bakers, ignoring everyone else. His eyes scanned everyone's face. No, a family, nope, no way, some children, a couple on a date, a family, still no, another couple—wait. Guanlin strained his neck to see the couple's faces. Aha! He found them. If the bakers weren't facing him, he could've sworn that they were a couple on a date. They had couple earmuffs for crying out loud!

"Excuse me!" Guanlin staggered towards the bakers. "Do you know where the two boys went after they left your shop?"

Jihoon and Jinyoung looked at each other.

"No, we don't know. Sorry!" Jinyoung said.

Jihoon nodded.

Guanlin wanted to collapse on the ground. Where's a table when you need one?

"You're welcome to join us for now. Maybe they'll be here," suggested Jihoon.

"Yeah, I'll stick with you guys for now. I'm exhausted," admitted Guanlin.

They walked around for a while, with no specific destination in mind.

"Is that them?" Jihoon made a motion towards two people.

Guanlin looked up and felt the urge to leap for joy. He had found them! But who was with them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to say anything about Ongniel because I'll spoil it. Huhuhu. 
> 
> Ok I literally have 10 different ideas/plots for Wanna One/Produce 101 fics. Ugh, my imagination betrayed me. 
> 
> School is starting for me soon, please pray for me and my updates. Thank you. 
> 
> Edit: I've finally figured out how to insert clickable links and stuff. Now you guys can view the cover image! (Oh and listen to my awesome music.) Yay! What do you guys think of the (new!) cover? -Veil


	10. (W)Here's Ongniel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: My updates are going to be every (hopefully) Sunday/Monday. It depends on your time zone. Enjoy~

[Listen to while reading](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7tsiFrHM0q0)

They had finally made it to the festival. After a really strange day, Seongwoo was ready to relax and have some fun. Oh, and pretend to be interested in Sammy. That too.

What he didn't count on was more strangers running towards them with gleams in their eyes. 

"Hey! You're the servants from the castle, right?" A boy with angel earmuffs asked eagerly.

Seongwoo felt so confused. Who was this person talking to?

Samuel and Daehwi nodded. 

"That's us," Daehwi confirmed.

"Ok good," said the other boy who was carrying a huge, toy dog. "because this fellow was looking for you." He signaled to a foreign looking person, standing a few feet behind them.

Introductions followed with some more talking. Seongwoo gave up trying to follow the conversation. It made his head spin. He had never seen these three strangers in his entire life! Wow, this was a weird day. Looking around to see what rides were available, he made a list of what he wanted to do. Unconsciously, Seongwoo tuned into the last part of their conversation. 

"…I just heard a lot about what's happening at the castle and wondered if you knew too," the guy who introduced himself as Guanlin said.

"Oh?" One of Samuel's eyebrow lifted. "What's happening at the castle?"

Guanlin stared at Samuel. "King Seungcheol requested his son to not stay out too long. So…the prince is on the loose."

Samuel gulped. Daehwi narrowed his eyes at Guanlin. 

"How do you know this?" Daehwi asked.

"Oh, word gets around." Guanlin shrugged. "But I'm sure you already know about this because rumors are flying everywhere."

"Anyway, did you guys deliver the package to the king like we told you?" The person called Jihoon said.

Samuel and Daehwi glanced at each other nervously. Seongwoo put two and two together.

One, they were supposed to deliver the package Samuel was carrying. Two, they had some weird connection to the royal family that lived there. And three, the crown prince was on the loose.

As Seongwoo thought about it, he should've researched more about the kingdom he was now living in. He knew the prince was about Samuel's age, maybe younger. Seongwoo didn't know how the royals looked or their names because he was too busy with moving. Oh well, they weren't his concern anyway.

"Guys, can we enjoy the phenomenal festival? It's beautiful right now," Seongwoo interrupted the flow of conversation.

Everyone grudgingly agreed. Samuel volunteered to cover all the costs. It was nice of him, but Seongwoo started to feel suspicious of him.

"Let's go on some rides!" Daehwi suggested, enthusiastic. "I want to ride the ferris wheel last, though."

"Anyone disagree?" Samuel looked around the thrown together group.

No one voiced any disagreements.

"Let's enjoy our time here!" Jihoon cheered. He made the dog nod in agreement.

While waiting for a ride, Seongwoo brought up the topic of the broken heater.

"Sammy, you now about my broken heater right?" Seongwoo chirped.

"Yeah, I know. I'm guilty because I can't bring you to my place to sleep," confessed the prince. He had a bedroom bigger than Seongwoo's tiny apartment. "I'm sorry I can't let you sleep over."

"It's fine, your parents probably wouldn't let me sleep over anyway. You just met me today," The elder person reassured him. He looked over to Daehwi and made sure he was watching them. When he felt absolutely sure that Daehwi was listening, he said, "So can you sleep at my place?"

If you compared an erupting volcano to Daehwi's reaction, it would be the same thing. Except the latter had slightly less lava and didn't destroy too much. Basically, Daehwi lost his mind. He had the decency to hide it well though.

"Seongwoo," Daehwi interjected. "my best friend isn't available tonight. He has some matters to attend to. Sammy has no sleeping clothes either."

Seongwoo decided to push it further. "I could lend him some clothes. We could bond together the whole night!"

Daehwi took a deep breath. "He can't tonight. Maybe when we see you again."

Both Daehwi and Samuel knew they'd likely never see Seongwoo, Jihoon, Jinyoung, or Guanlin again. Which was exactly why Daehwi said that.

"I see," Seongwoo said slowly. "maybe next time." He gave Samuel a look saying that he did his job.

"Yup, next time." Samuel gave Seongwoo a knowing look back.

At this point, Daehwi was annoyed to the maximum. He calmed himself down and returned to his usual state soon after this incident.

The rest of the time the group spent was just filled with fun and games for everyone. The various activities kept the group busy for a while. Soon, dusk began to fall and they all got in line for the ferris wheel.

"I'm going to sit this one out. Heights don't agree with me," said Guanlin. He sat down at a nearby bench.

The line for the ferris wheel was pretty long. The two people running it were collecting the money from the people and shuffling people to and from the ride. Earlier on, they explained how their system of single riders went. The ferris wheel's gondolas only held two people. Because there was many people waiting, single riders would be paired with another person riding alone. Samuel grumbled about this, for it meant someone in the makeshift group would be going with a stranger. The workers apologized for the inconvenience many times.

"Youngmin! Do you have a single rider?" The boy near the ferris wheel called.

"If you're a single rider, please raise your hand and go to Donghyun!" Youngmin told the line of people.

Seongwoo raised his hand.

Samuel shook his head. "You're coming with us."

"The maximum amount of riders is two. I bet you and Daehwi will be riding together. Jinyoung and Jihoon will be riding together, too. I'll be fine," Seongwoo assured Samuel. "Even if it means riding with a stranger."

Samuel still looked concerned as Seongwoo entered the wheel's gondola.

Donghyun helped Seongwoo in the ferris wheel. He gave them a smile and reminded them not to shake the gondola. The side door closed as Seongwoo got seated across from the other rider.

The other person in the cabin was wearing a face mask and was staring out at the scenery. Seongwoo didn't bother making conversation with him. He felt exhausted.

Soon, the ferris wheel began to move. The windows were movable, so Seongwoo decided to open one. Light snow had started to fall. It was not so much that you couldn't see anything, but the perfect amount. Going to the top, Seongwoo studied the stranger.

He saw a pair of brown eyes and wisps of honey colored hair was sticking out of the stranger's hat. Where had he seen that hair color before?

"You remind me of someone…" Seongwoo commented, from behind the protection of his scarf. His breath showed in the winter air.

The stranger's eyes flicked towards him. "Likewise." He turned his attention to the snow.

When they reached the top, they had a breathtaking view of the plaza, town, and the castle. It was a winter wonderland. The gently falling snow made the scene seem even more ethereal than it already was.

The mood seemed too heavy for Seongwoo to handle, so he said the first thing he could think of.

"Did you just fart?"

The stranger remained silent, but Seongwoo saw his eyes crinkle upwards.

"Because you just blew me away."

More silence. And then, Seongwoo heard the most lovely laugh in the world. He couldn't explain it. Seongwoo loved this person's laugh. That was it, plain and simple. The urge to make him laugh more just to hear it all day possessed him for a moment.

Then the moment passed, and the stranger stopped to wipe a tear from his eye.

"A pickup line?" The stranger giggled. "A very bad one, at that."

Seongwoo shrugged. "The mood felt too serious. What else can I say?"

Pulling out a pen and paper, the stranger scribbled down something. "Call me sometime," he said, and handed Seongwoo the paper.

"Wow, I'm good," Seongwoo muttered and gave his phone number to the stranger.

The stranger took it and put it in his pocket. "I'll call you if I ever need a laugh," he joked.

With a sudden jolt, the ride stopped, and it was time to get off. It was too soon for Seongwoo.

"Please exit the compartment in an orderly fashion," requested Youngmin who was now helping people get on and off. He gave a hand to the stranger and then to Seongwoo. "How was your ride?" Youngmin asked Seongwoo.

Seongwoo looked to the retreating back of the other rider. "It was more than I expected."

The stranger continued walking and disappeared, taking Seongwoo's heart with him.

…

Kang Daniel took off his face mask and stared at the phone number. He laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: There's your Ongniel. How unfortunate that they don't know it's each other. *laughs evilly*
> 
> I'm writing a Howons one shot haha I'm sorry. I've got to finish it, make a cover, so don't expect it soon.
> 
> My first day of school was horrible. Ugh.
> 
> Lately I've been listening to classical music, so don't be surprised if I suggest Fïr Elise (Is that how you spell it?) or something. *shrugs*
> 
> Fun Fact: I wrote the name Seongwoo 37 times including the one in this sentence.
> 
> SAMHWI IS NOT DEAD I'VE SAID THIS BEFORE I WILL SAY THIS AGAIN. -Veil


	11. Flurries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My heart hurts so much. I miss Hoya... *cries for the 124844838282756960403 time* ft. my semi-rant(?) at the end of the story. You don't have to read it if you don't want to. How many of you actaully listen to the links I provide? I won't get offended if you don't, haha.
> 
> Thank you all SO much for 2,500+ hits! I'm eternally grateful and shocked.

"We're so dead." Daehwi glared at Samuel. They boarded the gondola a few sconds ago, and the door just closed. "Seongwoo is suspicious of us now. I can tell."

Samuel chose not to respond. He was too busy admiring the view from the ferris wheel. 

"Samuel!"

Samuel rolled his eyes. "Lighten up, we're on a ferris wheel. This is supposed to be fun!"

Daehwi groaned. "You almost blew our cover."

"We'll be fine! I doubt he'll know who we are anyway. He's going to find out eventually."

"Ugh, why do I put up with you?" Daehwi slumped down in his seat. "We need to go back, pronto. Guanlin said the king, your father, is looking for us."

"He didn't say that exactly..." the prince thought about it for a few seconds. "Did he?"

"No, but he implied it! We were only going to go out to this festival, but we're in this mess now." Daehwi put his head in his hands. "What are we going to do?"

"Enjoy the wonderful scenery! It's really cool," Samuel said, looking out the window.

Frowning, Daehwi rebuffed all the pleas from Samuel to look out the window with him.

"Please, hyung?" pleaded Samuel. "I just want you to see it."

The elder softened at the honorific and allowed himself to be pulled on his feet. Daehwi was guided to the open window. Luckily, the flurries weren't obscuring much of the town.

A burst of chilly air hit Daehwi, and he unconsciously stepped closer to Samuel for warmth. 

"It's so beautiful." Daehwi stared at the gently falling snow. Some had latched itself onto Daehwi's glove and he wiped it off with Samuel's scarf.

"Hey!" Samuel hit his hyung playfully. "I demand respect."

"Whatever you say," grinned Daehwi.

Samuel pointed to the outline of the castle. "I can see my home!" 

"We're almost at the top of the ride," Daehwi informed Samuel. 

"Ooh, the view is going to be so awesome up there," Samuel said. He sighed contentedly. "Snow is amazing."

Daehwi hummed in agreement. 

They reached the top of ferris wheel soon afterwards. The scenery at the highest peak was so majestic. Both of them were in awe of the ethereal beauty of the town. They started descending down, the pair at a loss for words. 

Samuel looked at Daehwi. "Wow."

The ferris wheel stopped abruptly and they went to the exit. After the friendly worker that looked like an alpaca bid them a farewell, they found Seongwoo. He was waiting for them on the bench with Guanlin. 

"How was the ride?" asked Seongwoo. He tried to wipe the silly grin off of his face from the stranger.

"It was good." Samuel took a seat next to Guanlin. "Where's Jihoon and Jinyoung?"

"They let an elderly couple before them. They'll be getting on at the next stop," explained Seongwoo. He pointed the bakers out. "They're both too kind for their own good. We'll have to wait for them."

"We can wait, it isn't a problem," Samuel reassured Seongwoo.

Opening his mouth to argue, Daehwi was silenced with a stare from Samuel. Silently, he sulked down in the seat next to Samuel.

"I'm a little skeptical about waiting..." muttered Daehwi.

"Cheer up, we'll go home soon," said Samuel. He played with his scarf while talking to Seongwoo.

Seongwoo lifted his eyebrows. "You two live together?"

"Unfortunately," replied Daehwi while Samuel responded with a nod of his head. 

"I wouldn't have guessed," the oldest said. Interested, Seongwoo continued the conversation asking about other things. 

Daehwi looked around the festival from his spot. The atmosphere in the air was cheerful, and he liked that. People were beginning to head home. Some were clustering at the field with snacks and drinks to chat.

"Hey, Seongwoo, what's going on over there?" inquired Daehwi.

Seongwoo looked to where Daehwi was looking. "I don't know. Maybe a display or presentation of some sort. You can ask one of the staff members about it."

"When will Jihoon and Jinyoung get off the ride?" Samuel asked curiously. 

"Your ride took about five minutes, so I'm going to assume it's also five minutes for them," answered Seongwoo.

"Ok. Five more minutes until we can go home Daehwi," the prince said. "Hopefully my parents won't be mad about me getting home late."

"Do you have a curfew?" Seongwoo said, surprised.

Samuel's eyes darted away. "My parents are really protective." He refused to reveal anything more about the subject.

Guanlin watched, amused. The prince was really something. He didn't lie, but he didn't tell the whole truth either.

"Hey guys!" Jihoon ran to them, with his stuffed bear tucked securely in his arms.

"Hi!" greeted Daehwi. "Did you have fun on the ferris wheel?"

"Definitely!" Jinyoung exclaimed. "It was very enjoyable. We got to see the castle from where we were. I wonder if I'll ever visit the castle." He turned to face the castle's outline. 

Samuel gulped. The guilt was building in his stomach. He didn't even know why he was feeling guilty. It was probably because he didn't reveal who he was. At the same time, it was nice to hang out with people who wasn't put off by his status. Would they still be his friends even if he told them who he was?

"Samuel? We're leaving now." Daehwi stood in front of him with his hand outstretched. The crown prince took his hand and Daehwi pulled him up. 

The two of them walked together to the rest of their friends. They walked past the shopping booths, the games section, and many other stands. Two people at a game booth waved to the group. Jihoon and Jinyoung waved back.

Soon, they reached the exit of the festival. They all faced each other to say their goodbyes.

"Goodbye, I hope to see you guys again!" said the Jihoon. Jinyoung waved and said goodbye after him. Jihoon and Jinyoung left first. Jinyoung was still carrying the stuffed animal.

"I guess I'll see you around town, right?" Seongwoo said.

Samuel and Daehwi didn't have the heart to say that it was likely that they wouldn't see each other again. They said their goodbyes to him and Seongwoo set off for his apartment.

"Bye Guanlin!" Samuel said. He adjusted his cap.

"Ok, bye!" Guanlin walked behind a shop, but started following them again after he was sure they couldn't see him.

...

All of their schedules intervened the tightest on that winter day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where do I start...? So ever since Hoya left, I've been a little upset. I really wish him the best on his solo activities, I really do. But I'm feeling a bit sad that Infinite will never stand as 7 members again. I miss Hoya so much. OT7 will live in my heart. I'll treasure the days when Hoya was in the wonderful group called Infinite.
> 
> Don't get me started on the Carat problems. The arguing among us and the invasion of Dino's privacy... I feel so helpless. 
> 
> To top it off, I lost ALL my drafts of this chapter earlier. It disappeared. Poof. I don't know where it is anymore. So here is the chapter written in one day. I lost ALL of my other stories I started writing. This includes the Howons story. I'm lucky enough that I managed to have backups of some covers I made. I'm sorry for the delay in posting those. (THE HOWONS STORY WAS 2K WORDS ALREADY. TWO THOUSAND WORDS.)
> 
> On a positive note, Jung Sewoon debuted! His song, Just U is so catchy. Please support him! MXM deserves your love too~ 
> 
> If you guys want to watch a foreign romance film, may I suggest Kita Kita/I See You? It's SO good. The characters are from the Philippines and it has a mix of Tagalog, Japanese, and English (I can't remember if there's English, I'm guessing now.) in it. The lead characters are so soft, fluffy, and perfectly balanced?? How?? Tell me if you watch it and your reaction! 
> 
> So my week was really bad. How was your week? -Veil


	12. Forgotten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting early because I won't have time later. Thank you for the continuous support on this fanfiction!
> 
> I'm sorry it's so short. 
> 
> If you like Taeyong from NCT, I'm doing a reader x Taeyong thing on Wattpad. It updates whenever I feel like it.

The door opened with a creak. Careful, calculated footsteps stepped inside, followed by his companion's. It was dusk and the snow had started to fall more intensely. A misstep made the prince's shoe let out a high squeak because of the snow on their shoes.

"Samuel!" scolded Daehwi. "Don't do that!"

The prince looked apologetically to the ground. "Sorry!"

"We just need to get to your bedroom so we can change out of these clothes. Then we can go on with the normal schedule." Daehwi felt satisfied with his plan. "Which way do we go to get to your room, again?"

Samuel's jaw went slack. "You don't know the way back?" 

Daehwi stared at Samuel's fearful eyes. "It was a joke, calm down. Of course I know the way back. Oh Samuel, what would you do if I wasn't here?" He shook his head and made his way down the hallway.

They kept their heads down for the most part, only looking up when necessary. Finally, the two reached Samuel's room. Daehwi was proud himself on being able to lead the way back, while his best friend just shook his head.

The prince saw the problem first. "Um, where's our clothes?" Samuel looked at his neatly made bed, searching for the balled up clothing articles.

Daehwi thought about the last place he put it. "I'm positive it was on this bed. Unless..." 

"Unless what?"

"Did you make your bed this morning?"

"Of course not, a servant comes in to make it—oh." Samuel placed the pieces together. "You don't think they took our clothes away, do you?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. We need to get our clothes back."

"No, we don't. I can lend you some of my clothes."

For some reason, this statement made Daehwi see red. "Maybe you don't need or want your clothes back, your royal highness, but I do!"

Samuel raised his hands in surrender. "Ok, ok, calm down. I was just trying to be nice. If you really want them back, we'll have to go to the laundry room."

"The laundry room? My clothes weren't even that dirty!" protested Daehwi. "Why would they take the clothes to the laundry room?"

"Maybe the servant who cleaned the room thought they were used already. I don't know. Either way, it'll go to the laundry room."

"How do I know you're not making this up? This could turn out to be like that one scene in Weight Lifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo!"

Samuel stared at his friend. "What?"

"Never mind."

The prince shook his head and checked the time on his phone. "It's almost dinner time, let's move!"

Daehwi stubbornly held his ground. "I need my clothes back first. I refuse to wear any of yours."

"Can't we just ask one of the servants to retrieve it?" 

"How much time do we have?"

"About fourteen minutes."

"Great, let's go get my clothes. You can change into your usual prince attire after we come back."

Samuel complied with his friend and led the way to the laundry room. A few minutes later, he stopped in front of the entrance. "I'm sure it's somewhere here." He opened the door.

Piles of clothing was stacked, neatly folded, and ready to be put away. No actual servants appeared to be working at this time, so Samuel and Daehwi were grateful for that. However, the urgency to find Daehwi's clothes still pressed upon them. 

Daehwi began frantically shifting through the folded and pressed clothes while Samuel searched in the working laundry machines. Soon, the prince found the outfit Daehwi was wearing earlier.

"Here!" Samuel announced. "I've found it."

Thanking Samuel, Daehwi retrieved his clothes from the stack of garments.

"Seriously, how many things do you have that needs to be laundered?" Daehwi joked.

"A lot. The drapes, tablecloths, blankets, bedsheets—"

Daehwi put his hand to his face. "Never mind."

They walked down the hall, trying not to draw any suspicion from anyone.

"We need to hurry, Daehwi. Meal time starts in five minutes. You know how my parents are about being late!" warned Samuel.

The two of them changed in a jiffy and zipped down the stairs for dinner. Cautious of the attention the kings showed them, they acted normally. Well, normal enough.

"Can you please pass that dish?" Samuel pointed to the plate with steamed rice.

A servant placed it in front of the prince. Samuel began to scoop some rice onto his plate, politely declining any help from the workers. He knew he had to do some things by himself.

Daehwi smiled behind his cup of warm hot chocolate. 

"So, what did you boys do today?" King Seungcheol asked.

"Um…" Looking at Daehwi with an alarmed expression, Samuel mouthed the word help.

"Your majesty, we followed our usual schedule today," lied Daehwi.

King Seungcheol raised his glass of water. "Are you sure you didn't forget anything?"

Daehwi and Samuel began racking their brains, making sure they didn't forget something.

Daehwi paled. "Shoot." He pulled Samuel into a bathroom, ignoring the looks the kings gave them. 

"We forgot the package."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's to become of Samhwi? -Veil


	13. "Let me sleep!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, hello.
> 
> I heard about this Wanna One fanfiction competition and I'm here to share with y'all the link. Here's the link to get involved!  
> https://wannaoneffawards.tumblr.com/
> 
> totally not hoping to get nominated

Seongwoo crawled into his cold as ice sleeping bag and lay awake. He felt so tired after a long and interesting day, but he didn't want to sleep. The hard floor did not help his sleeping schedule either. Twisting and turning, Seongwoo gave up trying to rest. His thoughts swirled in his mind. He had so many questions, and not enough answers.

Who was the person in the ferris wheel? 

Why did the servants act so odd?

Why was today so odd?

Listless, he crept out of his sleeping bag. The paper with the stranger's contact information was burning a hole in his jacket pocket where he had stuffed it. Seongwoo took the paper and traced the numbers. What would happen if he called? Shoving that thought aside, he placed the paper back into the pocket.

All night he couldn't sleep. Neither could the person across the hall.

...

Meanwhile, the bakers trotted down the street to reach their respective homes. Jinyoung and Jihoon lived in the same general area, but their houses were a couple of blocks apart. 

As they reached the intersection where they often separated, Jihoon gave Jinyoung a speedy farewell and a broad smile. The shorter jogged off towards his home only looking back to wave once more.

"Good night Jihoon! I'll see you tomorrow for work!" called Jinyoung from his spot. He waved goodbye back to his coworker.

Now Jinyoung was in a rush to get to his house. They cold had settled in and a chilly breeze whipped Jinyoung's scarf around his already slender neck. He pulled the scarf up higher to cover his runny nose. Walking at a brisk pace, he soon arrived at his home.

After peeling off his winter clothing and changing into his nightwear, Jinyoung made himself comfortable in front of his fireplace. He had turned up the temperature to compensate for a fire and decided to read a book before heading to bed.

The crackling of the fire and the cozy atmosphere made Jinyoung doze off.

...

"What do you mean we fogot the package? I was holding it during the festival, right?" Samuel searched Daehwi's eyes for any guilty sign saying that he was lying. "Right?"

"Correct, but it's still not delivered," Daehwi said.

"Then where is it?"

"You were holding it during the festival..."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Where do you think it is?"

"My room?"

"I don't know. We'll check after dinner." Daehwi walked past Samuel and back into the dining room. Samuel followed. 

The royal family and Daehwi chattered aimlessly for the rest of the night. It wasn't long before everyone was dismissed back to their regular routines.

"See you all in the morning, bright and early." King Seungcheol left the room towards his study. 

King Jeonghan smiled warmly. "Good night Samuel! Good night Daehwi!" He went to the bedrooms, to get ready to sleep.

"Good night," responded the boys warily. 

They scurried to Samuel's room hurridly to look for the package. 

Daehwi tossed and shuffled things around, frantically looking. Samuel checked in his closet and behind random objects. Neither of them were successful at finding it.

"Did we leave it in the laundry room or something?" Daehwi began panicking. He had even crawled under Samuel's bed to look. 

"No, I put it down before then," Samuel reasoned. He put his hand to his chin. "I think I know where it is!" Reaching for a pillow, he lifted it up and revealed the hidden package.

"You mean we panicked for nothing!? It was right under this pillow this whole time!" The prince's best friend was going to flip a table. "Argh!" Daehwi wanted to facepalm. He collapsed onto a comfy arm chair next to Samuel's bed.

"So, when are we giving this to its owner?" Samuel questioned. "It is already pretty late now." He set down the medium sized box on his dresser. 

"We will give it to him tomorrow. The package's contents are probably some baked goods anyways," reasoned Daehwi.

Samuel nodded. "Well, I need to go to bed now. See you in the morning, I guess."

The elder boy hopped out of the seat and went to his designated room.

They both slept soundly, for their adventures that day drained them both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm super sorry I didn't post for the past 2 weeks, I've been busy with things. Thank you for waiting! I'll be posting hopefully every 2-3 weeks now. ((DNA AND CHANGE UP ARE SO GOOD. I like them so much.)) -Veil


	14. "I'm Hungry!"

Guanlin stood at his assigned post outside the entrance of the castle trying not to die of hypothermia. It was as if he was placed in a freezer to rot for all eternity. Why of all days did he draw the short stick? Thankfully, the guards on duty were all provided with warm uniforms to ward off the weather.

Nothing was happening at all. How boring.

The guard yawned into his gloved hand. When was the time for the break again? His eyes flickered from one thing to another, desperate for anything interesting to happen. Why couldn't he follow the prince and his friend again? That was way more fun.

Grunting, Guanlin shifted his feet. Who ever said guarding a castle was exciting? Not him. His stomach growled in pain. 

For the fun of it, he started composing a poem in his head about food. It went a little something like this,

There once was a guard named Guanlin

The cold was attacking his shins

He wanted to eat

A wonderful treat

No he could not even begin

Guanlin made a mental note to work on the ending. It didn't sit right on his tongue. The poem succeeded in distracting him for a few minutes, but it was not enough. Hunger seemed to mix with the frosty weather as he shivered a little bit.

He tried to think of other poems to make, but his hunger blocked his senses. At last, when it looked like he might collapse from famine and cold, the head guard called for the 30 minute break. Other people who had already eaten would take up their post.

Relieved, Guanlin headed inside to eat.

...

"It's so cold today!" Jihoon complained. "I almost slipped on the ice on the way here."

"How interesting," said Jinyoung from behind the counter. "You're also late to your shift. You're lucky I didn't tell Woojin you weren't here when he called."

Jihoon shot finger guns to his coworker. "Thanks, Jinyoung!"

"No problem. I told him you were in the bathroom with diarrhea from eating terrible diary products I made."

"What?!" 

"Now he's coming here to reteach me how to bake diary products properly."

"Wait-"

"So if I were you, I'd get into that bathroom stall quickly because he's parking his car right now," continued Jinyoung.

Jihoon flashed Jinyoung a furious look and scampered off to the bathroom.

A blast of winter air invaded the bakery and Park Woojin strolled into the room. 

"Jinyoung, how many times have we been over this?" scolded the red head. "You need to make sure to use dairy products that are not expired! Especially ones with mold already growing on it." 

Jinyoung lowered his head in false shame. "I'm sorry. I'll do better next time."

Heaving a heavy sigh, Woojin showed his dongsaeng how to identify bad produce and how to clean the ingredients adequately. Again. After the lessons, Woojin went to the restroom to check on Jihoon. Jinyoung followed him.

"We're going to the bathroom right?" Jinyoung raised his voice so his elder could hear they were arriving. "Isn't that right?" 

Perplexed, Woojin turned and asked, "Are you having problems with your voice? Why is it so loud?"

"I'm just making sure it's working," replied Jinyoung weakly. "I guess it is since you hear it."

Woojin shook his head. "You're so strange." 

The door opened and Jihoon stepped out of a stall as soon as the others entered. He raised a hand to Woojin, trying to look constipated. 

"Hi..." Jihoon clutched his stomach. "Jinyoung's baking skills are really something, aren't they? Ow! My tummy!" He gave a thin smile to the two and rushed back into the bathroom stall.

"We'll leave you be for now," Woojin said quickly. 

They both left and Woojin resumed reteaching Jinyoung certain techniques. Woojin left when Jihoon appeared to be in charge again. 

"I will be taking my leave now," announced Woojin. "Jinyoung, please do not try to make anything by yourself for a while, you hear me? The last thing I need right now is the Health Department hounding me about the cleanliness of the food. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go meet someone."

"Do you mean Hyungseob again?" Jihoon teased and held his stomach tightly. "Am I right or am I right?"

"Oh, go back to the toilet," laughed Woojin. "Yes, I'm meeting him, now get back to work." He walked out the door and into his car. Woojin waved to his friends as he drove away.

Jihoon spun around to face Jinyoung. "You're going to pay for making me stay in that dirty restroom for such a long time."

Innocently, Jinyoung patted his wallet. "I don't have that much money, but I can take you to the movies later to pay."

"Uh, that's not what I mea-"

"Good it's a date! We'll figure out what movie to watch later, after work."

"Did you just ask me ou-"

"And it would not be dirty if someone actually cleaned it." The younger looked sternly at Jihoon and walked away.

"Where are you going?" called Jihoon. 

"I'm going to clean the bathroom. I'm sure it stinks because of your diarrhea!" Jinyoung smiled wickedly and left Jihoon to wonder if he just got asked out.

...

Daniel curled up in his blanket and tried to doze off again. There was an annoying noise that kept invading his ears and it was so loud. Was there someone scraping elephants everywhere or something? It was disturbing his sleep.

A quick examination through the window confirmed Daniel's suspicion. There was no elephants, but there was a moving truck and a bunch of furniture being moved into the apartment building. It must be the new neighbor across from him. Even though Daniel didn't work at today, he didn't feel like getting up and talking to the new person. Talking to new people was so draining. 

Besides, Daniel had to think about the stranger from yesterday. 

The messy haired boy checked his phone. It was too early for this. Daniel crawled back into his bed and slept some more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm so sorry I don't keep updating consistently! I hope you enjoyed this chapter nonetheless. Thank you for being patient with me. Comments, kudos/votes, and subscriptions are always appreciated! <3
> 
> And 3,100+ views?!? You all are awesome! -Veil


	15. Well then

Samuel blinked his eyes open and scanned his clock. His dark brown orbs widened. It was past the beginning of his schedule! He jumped out of his bed and saw Daehwi sitting on his chair.

"Why didn't you wake me up? I'm late to everything! My parents are going to kill me!" Samuel scrambled to summon a servant to help him get dressed.

Daehwi smirked. "Don't get so worked up. King Jeonghan cancelled all of your plans for today to let you sleep in."

"Really!?" The prince would have jumped for joy if one of his servants was not dressing him. "But why?"

The older person just lifted his shoulders. "Ask him yourself."

"I'll do that later. Why are you in my room so early?" Not trusting his friend, Samuel squinted at him. 

Pointing his fingers to the package, Daehwi said, "To help you deliver the package. We'll say some servants gave it to us thinking we were the ones whom this was intended to. Alright?"

The prince nodded in agreement. "Let's eat first then give the package to the rightful owner. My dad can wait until after our meal."

When the pair finished eating, they took the box and gave it to King Seungcheol. 

"Ah, my order finally arrived!" The king ripped off the tape and removed the tissue paper covering what Samuel and Daehwi had handed over. He revealed some pasteries and bread rolls.

"That's it?" Samuel stared at the food, dumbfounded. "You mean we-I mean the servants had to give you food? Why couldn't you just ask one of the chefs to make all of this for you? I'm sure Mingyu would have made this for you even though he still has to work as a guard."

Daehwi considered hitting Samuel with a pillow for his slip-up. 

Samuel's dad laughed. "That bakery, ah what was it called? Um, I think it's Bakery 101 or something... But I know there's a 101 in there, but I don't know the actual name of the store. Anyway, I used to go there when I sneaked out of the castle. Their goods are so good!"

An awkward silence ensued.

"So was that a bad dad joke or...?" Samuel asked.

"Yup!"

"Your highness, we're going to let you eat in peace now. Enjoy!" Daehwi called over his shoulder.

"Are you leaving because of my joke?"

There was no answer.

...

A screech from the floor made Seongwoo frown. He had been trying to move his couch into the position he wanted, but it kept making loud noises from friction. Running his hand through his hair, he groaned out of frustration. Seongwoo looked around the living room to examine his handiwork so far. 

The coffee table was already set up, seats for relaxation were in their spots, a rug covered the bare floor, and a random assortment of trinkets were set on the table. A box with more furniture pieces and knick knacks took up some space in the corner. He'd have to set those things up later. His phone buzzed in his worn pocket and Seongwoo read the message he was sent.

_Unknown number: Hey! It's the person from the ferris wheel. I wanted to know if you still exist haha. Wait that sounds weird. Anyway, I'd like to know if you'd like to hang out sometime. Just tell me when and I'll be there. Oh that sounded so desperate. Well, contact me soon! -From, Ferris Wheel Boy_

Seongwoo smiled. He wasn't the one to reach out first and dread looking like an idiot. The stranger's message was clumsy like a school girl confessing to her crush, but Seongwoo didn't mind. He started to type out a reply, however he wondered if replying immediately would make him look desperate too. So he put the phone down and resumed his work.

After he got most of the living room done and he had started some work on the kitchen's layout, Seongwoo allowed himself to text back. 

...

Daniel paced around his bedroom, frazzled. The text message he sent was a mistake! He was only fooling around with typing and adding negative comments to try to make them funny. Why did the send button have to be so close to the backspace button? Now the person he met would never answer his text. 

Daniel's bed creaked as he collapsed on it. Why was the world so intent on making him a laughing stock? He sneezed into his elbow and frowned. Great, he was getting sick too.

With a surprisingly loud sound, his phone signaled he had received a text message.

The boy gulped and hesitantly read the reply from the person he had met at the fair. His hands shook and Daniel sank into his pillows.

"Well, then," Daniel said to himself. "it looks like I have an outing soon."


	16. Together

The castle's classes were even more dull than usual. Samuel propped up his face with his elbow and tried to concentrate on the very important history of his future kingdom. The textbook's words blurred together. He rubbed his eyes and reread the paragraph.

"So if it was founded in this year..." The prince scribbled an answer to a worksheet in the packet. Looking satisfied with himself, he stretched. "There. Now only three more pages to go."

Daehwi sat nearby, twirling his pencil absentmindedly. He, of course, had to learn as well, but it was more of a priority for his best friend. Who would want a king who did not know the history of his kingdom? Even though he didn't like homework that much, Daehwi did have to keep his grades up in order to not fall behind. Unwillingly, he returned to his work.

It did not take long for Daehwi to get distracted once more. Technically it was Samuel's fault. If only the younger did not have eyebags as noticeable as the sun, all would be well. Daehwi for sure did not notice Samuel's near flawless skin, bright eyes, or handsomeness. Definitely not.

"Are you sleeping well?" Daehwi prodded, tearing his eyes away from Samuel in general.

"I am getting a good amount of rest, thank you very much." This was said with an air of false haugtiness. "What about you?" Samuel's tone softened and Daehwi melted inside.

"Yeah, I'm sleeping well. Based on your eyebags, I beg to differ with your plea." Daehwi was using uncommon words on purpose. It was a game they played. If you used more rare and long words than the other, you won.

The usually composed prince frowned. "Please bring me a mirror," he said to a servant who obediently obeyed.

A few moments later, a mirror was given to Prince Samuel. He smiled in thanks to the worker, and it was Daehwi's turn to frown.

"Daehwi, you need your eyes checked. I do not have eyebags." Samuel looked like a cat with his smug face.

"Yes, you do. What time did you go to bed last night?" The elder was not letting this go.

"I went to bed at 9:30," Samuel told Daehwi.

Daehwi narrowed his eyes. "You are lying."

"Why does it matter to you?"

"You need to take care of yourself. It won't be good for anyone if you fell asleep in your food."

"Right. I'll sleep earlier hyung."

The use of the honorific made Daehwi let go of the subject as they returned to their studies.

...

"Oh no! What am I supposed to wear?" Daniel threw open the doors of his closet.

The stranger had agreed to meet at a local bakery in a few days. They set up the date and time, but everything was tentative. Daniel would only believe he was going when he got there.

Something felt a little off. Though they had met once before—granted, they were both wearing scarves, hats, and whatnot—Daniel felt wary of the stranger. After all, people were humans. Humans tended to do irrational things. An example was when Daniel gave the stranger his phone number. Why did he have to act on impulse? Was it the influence of the silly pun? Or was it something else?

This was not a good idea in the first place. So why was he going along with it? It wasn't like he met the guy online or whatever cliché someone could dream up.

Outfits were thrown out of the closet one by one. Nothing seemed appropriate for a meet up with a stranger. Daniel critically looked at each piece of clothing more closely. Each of them seemed to have a flaw.

"Well, it looks like it's time to go shopping!" Daniel declared to himself. He scooped up his latest paycheck, shoved on a random coat, and left the pile of inadequate clothes.

The clothing store was a little busy, but no one paid any attention to Daniel. That was perfectly fine with him. He shuffled through clothes and racks. Nothing seemed appealing. Everything that he would consider for the outing was too pricey.

Daniel got the attention of a worker who directed him to the section of the store with sales and clearances. This section of the store had fewer choices, but at least Daniel wouldn't have to break the bank to purchase something. The honey haired boy looked through everything thoroughly.

Finally, Daniel found an oversized, yellow sweatshirt and a black shirt with white trim around the neck line. He liked both of them. The black shirt would go well with the maroon jeans he had. Daniel bought them and left the store with giddiness.

…

Jihoon was not sure why Jinyoung was even more scatterbrained than usual, but it needed to stop. Jinyoung had already messed up orders, tripped over his shoe laces, and spilled ingredients today. Woojin was going to be upset if he found out Jinyoung wasted food.

"Get your act together. We still need to work for a few more hours," said Jihoon. "If not, I won't go to the movies with you."

Jinyoung shaped up quite nicely after that remark.

After the pair locked up the shop, Jinyoung took Jihoon's hand and guided him to Jinyoung's own car. Jihoon looked at him in bewilderment.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jihoon sputtered.

"Well I'm going to drive you to the theater... Unless you want to drive in your own car," Jinyoung hastily said. "I'm fine with that too."

Jihoon nodded his head towards the hands. "I meant that."

"Oh. I can let go if you like, I am so sor-"

"Shut up and drive. You're ruining a perfectly good moment."

"Yes, sir."

Their drive was quickly over, though it was a miracle Jinyoung didn't drive get into a car crash because his hands were shaking. Jihoon found the nervous disposition weirdly adorable. They pulled into the parking lot, tense.

Jihoon took a deep breath and teased,"Why are you nervous? Am I that intimidating?" He made a funny face to ease the atmosphere.

"You are the most scariest human being I've ever known," deadpanned Jinyoung. His eyes were serious. "If I mess this date up, you'll never look at me the same way again."

"What do you mean by that?" Jihoon asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jihoon didn't make a move to get out of the warm car and neither did Jinyoung. They just sat there as Jinyoung collected his thoughts.

"I mean that if I act like a total goofball and ruin this chance I have with you, I would never forgive myself. I do not want to end," Jinyoung pointed to Jihoon and himself. "this. Us. I want us to be the same, even if we do or do not continue a romantic relationship."

Jihoon scoffed. "How can we be the same even if we decide if we're better off friends? It would be awkward at first because I know how you feel about me. I'm sure we would stay friends. Or maybe not. I don't know. Or if we do continue with this personal relationship, why would we stay the same? If I'm in a relationship, I want to learn. I want to know what to do and what not to do. There are things that will change. We will accept that together. This is new to me. I am willing to take a chance. What about you?"

Jinyoung's teary smile was all the answer Jihoon needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm super sorry it took me a long time to get this posted. I hope you forgive me! This chapter was longer than usual, so I hope it pleases you. I'd love to have feedback, so please drop a comment! I do reply. Kudos/votes are very much appreciated. Thank you for all the love you guys have given this story! (Was winkdeep too cheesy??) See you in the next chapter. If you go on my Wattpad, there's a picture of Daniel in the black shirt and maroon jeans at the very end of this chapter. -Veil


	17. Awkward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all are way too good for me, we're almost at 4k views! I can't believe it. <3 Thank you! ~~happy Friday the 13th~~ -Veil

Seongwoo frantically searched boxes for clothes for his meet up with the stranger. He brought most of his wardrobe with him, which was good. Though Seongwoo wasn't the type to freak out over clothes, he freaked out. He took a deep breath to calm himself.

"I could wear this or this. Maybe those shoes would work..." He rummaged around looking for a suitable outfit. This led to Seongwoo cleaning out his boxes and hanging his clothes in his new closet. For the most part he got side tracked, but Seongwoo had finished putting his outfit together anyway.

His phone rang and he hurried over to answer the incoming call.

"Hello?" Seongwoo pulled the phone to his ear and brightened up. "Hey stranger!"

"Don't call me that. I have a name," the stranger said.

"Well of course you have a name."

"My name is—"

"No! Don't tell me. I want to keep calling you stranger for a little while. It helps keep the suspenseful mood going until we meet." Seongwoo smiled and ignored the butterflies in his chest.

They talked for over an hour.

...

"Why are we here?" Samuel shivered in spite of his thick coat. In front of him stood his best friend.

The pair were on the balcony of Samuel's room. Their footsteps showed clearly in the white snow. Guards stood in close proximity in case something were to happen. Nothing dangerous seemed likely as the joyous mood was infectious. Merry civilians roamed around, basking in the holiday spirit. It obviously affected Daehwi as well. They stood behind the railing, leaning against it for support.

"Why shouldn't we be here?" Daehwi's eyes twinkled. "Let's sing."

"Sing? I can't sing," objected Samuel. He backed away from the railing.

"You mean you won't sing."

"Are you being a chicken?"

"People will hear us. I don't want to get into trouble." The prince stepped inside his heated room. "We can sing inside. I can have the servants bring a karaoke machine or we can go to the movie room to pop in a musical." 

"It isn't the same as caroling out here! If we can't leave the castle today, we might as well be outside the castle," reasoned Daehwi.

"Is my home that bad to you?"

"No, I'm not saying that. I simply want to spend quality time with my..." Daehwi paused, not sure how to describe Samuel. Best friend would only make reality hurt. "I just want to exist with you."

"When you put it like that..."

"Please?"

In the days that would come, King Seungcheol and King Jeonghan would smile at the mention of singing. Technology was a blessing. Especially when spying on their son.

...

"You plan on making me watch this?!" The surprise was evident in Jihoon's voice. "I am way too scared of horror movies."

"Well how was I supposed to know that?" Jinyoung threw his hands up in the artificial, cheese-filled scented air. "What movie do you want to watch then?"

"How about this one?" Jihoon pointed to a poster advertising a comedy movie.

"I'll watch it because I've seen some of the actors in other productions," agreed Jinyoung. "The rest of the reason is because I love you."

If Jihoon had been eating popcorn, he would've choked. 

"Yo-you do?" he sputtered. "Uh, I think this relationship is moving too fast for me." Jihoon coughed.

"Oh." Jinyoung looked at his hands, retracting them to their original position. It saying I love you was too much for Jihoon, holding hands in public was not an option. At least not yet. Jinyoung winced.

Jihoon took a deep breath. "I just want to take things slow. Is that—"

"Yeah, that's fine. I'm cool with it. No problem. I was going to say the same thing." Jinyoung shut his mouth. How embarrassing! He just could not stop the stream of words. He twisted his fingers together. "Let's buy the tickets."

"Of course."

...

"You are literally not helping my headache," grumbled King Seungcheol to Lee Jihoon. "I need a nap." He frowned. "I'm turning into my spouse now. Wonderful!" The king brought his hand to his face and sighed.

"Sire, I can't handle more than one Jeonghan. Please gain control of yourself before I step down," Jihoon deadpanned. 

"You know what I enjoy about you?"

"What is it your majesty?"

"You do not mince words and you speak your mind even though I could have you thrown out of the castle."

"Thanks Cheol, I feel loved."

"You are welcome lowly peasant."

"That's it, I'm retiring!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you for reading! Please do not forget to comment and give votes/kudos. What ship do you all want to get together the most? (Samhwi, Winkdeep, or Ongniel?) -Veil


	18. Good

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Instead of prioritizing my stuff, I'm updating. Enjoy! :) -Veil

"Can we watch Infinity War?" asked Jihoon. "I changed my mind about this comedy movie."

"There's literally going to be no seats left. The movie will start in thirty minutes too! You know how the Marvel fandom can be," reasoned Jinyoung.

Jihoon's face drooped. Jinyoung felt his heart melt.

"Fine, we can see if there's any seats left. A fair warning, don't be too sad when you see there aren't a lot of seats."

A smile broke through Jihoon's features. "Yay!" He clapped his hands. "Thanks Jinyoung. I'll even pay."

"No, I'm paying."

"I'm paying!"

"Ahem," the girl at the counter cleared her throat. "Which movie would you two like to see?"

"Infinity War please!" Jihoon was practically bouncing on his toes. 

"Hmm..." The click of her fingernails against the computer screen made an audible sound. "You're in luck! There's two seats next to each other in the uppermost row at the next showing. However, it is in a corner." Her eyes gleamed. "Though I'm sure you two won't have a problem with that." 

Jihoon and Jinyoung's faces turned a bright crimson. However, neither moved to contradict her.

"What's the price?" Jinyoung wanted to get out of the girl's presence as soon as possible. 

The girl stated the price and Jinyoung hastily gave her his credit card. He didn't let Jihoon protest.

"Thank you!" Jihoon said as they left.

"Yeah, let's find the showing room." Jinyoung avoided looking into Jihoon's eyes. He fiddled with the receipt and tickets instead.

They gave their tickets to the ticket collector and walked in. 

"Here's our row." Jihoon sat beside the wall with Jinyoung on his left.

Although the theater was buzzing with anticipation, the lack of conversation between the two was almost too much to bear. 

Jinyoung took an opening. "How come you never told me you were a Marvel fan?" 

Jihoon thought about it for a second. "I didn't know you were supposed to say that when you meet someone. 'Hi, I'm Jihoon. I'll be your new coworker. I enjoy Marvel movies a lot.'" Jihoon said. "That's strange."

"I like strange." Jinyoung kept himself from adding 'And I like you'.

"Well that's good."

"Yeah."

…

Daehwi and Samuel stumbled back inside and snuggled on the carpeted floor, close to the roaring fireplace. The sheer warmth of it made the atmosphere cozy.

"Be careful your majesty," cautioned a guard. "You could get hurt."

"Thanks for the warning Jun," replied Samuel curtly. "I'll be careful."

Jun—the guard—resumed his usual stance. He stared stonily at the wall.

"Jun..." the prince began. "do you want to do me a favor?" Samuel grinned mischievously. Raising his eyebrows, Daehwi looked at his friend.

"Your highness, I am always supposed to follow your orders."

"Well, could you please go to your boyfriend for me and stay with him until I call you back up?" 

"Excuse me sire? I am not currently in a relationship," Jun denied. "I am very much single."

"Huh. Guess I'll have to tell King Seungcheol—my dad and your boss—that you should be fired for not obeying my orders."

"Prince Samuel–"

"I'm sure Myungho is waiting for you."

"I don't really think that this is an ethical way to make your guards leave, but if you say so. I'll tell King Seungcheol that I was distracted with urgent matters if he catches me." With a smirk, wink, and a thank you, Jun went to find Myungho.

Samuel nestled against Daehwi's arm. "Peace and quiet. What a nice change."

Daehwi smiled. "You're going to be a terrible king of this kingdom," he snorted. "I can't wait to see what happens."

"Don't expect a lot."

"I won't."

Tuckered out from their adventures, they fell asleep lying on the plush floor.

…

"I am highly convinced that your mastermind plotting is very wrong," grunted Seungcheol. "Do you really think this is going to change anything between them?"

Jeonghan flipped his hair with his hand. "Yes."

"Wrong answer."

"What do you suggest we do then?" challenged Jeonghan. "Leave them alone?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying!" 

"If we leave them alone, they'll never do anything about their love for each other. They'll both end up single and think that their love was unrequited!" Jeonghan threw his hands in the air.

"That's not going to happen."

"I am not going to let this situation spiral out of control! It's in need of help. I have what it takes to fix it. My plans are great."

"You're going to make it worse," reasoned Seungcheol. "If you do this now, it's going to be weird for them afterwards. Just let them be."

"And leave them in a blissful state of denial?" Letting his fist fall on a table, Jeonghan let out a sound of frustration. "No way."

"Yes way." With a firm face, Seungcheol crossed his arms.

"You're so difficult."

"You're so funny."

"You're so mean."

"You're so handsome."

Jeonghan frowned and tried to say something, but nothing came to mind. "I can't deal with you when you're like this." Upset at his flusteredness, he walked away.

"That's Seungcheol one and Jeonghan zero!" Seungcheol called after him. "Good game!" Triumphant, he strutted to his advisor. "That'll delay him from interfering with Sammy's love life for a while," the king said to Jihoon.

Jihoon opened his eyes. "Huh?" 

"We're you even listening to me?"

"No, I stopped listening when you initiated the argument. I also fell asleep."

"Standing up? I did not start that debate!" cried Seungcheol. He kept on ranting as Jihoon fell back asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm back~ How did you guys like/dislike the chapter? Don't forget to give votes and kudos! BTS is coming back soon! I'm so excited! See you next chapter. -Veil


	19. Trapped!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long… Samhwi's here! -Veil

Prince Samuel and Daehwi spent the next few days as they normally did. Little did they know that the kings were up to no good.

"No, place that camera over here!" King Jeonghan ordered his spouse in the spare room. "It needs to be here exactly."

"Wow, you're extra bossy today," grumbled King Seungcheol. Obeying his husband, Seungcheol put the camera where Jeonghan wanted it. "Is that all?"

"I think that's it." Jeonghan wiped his hands together. 

Seungcheol muttered, "I still think this is a terrible idea."

Jeonghan glared at him haughtily. "My plans always work. I can prove it when my ship sails."

"What does that even mean?" 

Jeonghan cleared his throat to respond, but Seungcheol cut him off. 

"Never mind, do not answer that."

A light rap on the door was heard. 

"Come in!" called Jeonghan.

Hansol, a butler, stepped into the room. "What time shall I send for Prince Samuel and Daehwi?"

Jeonghan though for a quick moment and said, "7:17 pm."

"Why is that time so specific?" Seungcheol wondered out loud. His husband looked at him, probably ready with a full on explanation. "That was rhetorical."

"Thank you your highness." Hansol left the room with a barely suppressed chuckle.

"Ooh, I can't wait!" squealed Jeonghan. "What about you?"

"I'm so enthusiastic," agreed Seungcheol. "Let's see what the kids are doing now."

...

The prince concentrated on pulling the toy block out of the tower without it falling. Because it was in an easy spot, Samuel didn't need to try as much.

"Be careful Sammy!" Daehwi said at random times to scare him.

Samuel bumped into the tower, but it stayed upright. He gave his best friend a look and triumphantly stacked the block on the top. 

"Beat that."

Daehwi made a funny face at his friend and started removing a wooden piece. This block was near the bottom and on the outside edge, so it was important to focus. Daehwi could feel his hand starting to shake. He wiped it on his clothes and continued.

It was almost out when Samuel quietly went beside him and whispered "Boo."

"Ah!" Daehwi's hand slipped and the tower of blocks came crashing down. "Sammy!" He tried to be all serious about it, but it was hard when your best friend was rolling on the floor laughing. "That wasn't funny!"

"I'm sorry Daehwi." Samuel wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "It was just hilarious to see you caught off guard."

After a few seconds, Daehwi joined into the laughter. "I suppose it was," Daehwi said. "We should go to sleep soon. King Seungcheol might get upset because we're playing a game of Jenga and not sleeping."

"But it's only 7:15 pm!"

"I know, but you're the prince. You're more important to me and the kingdom. You have to take care of your health." Daehwi fiddled with a Jenga block. 

"Then maybe in an hour," argued Samuel. "Is that alright?"

"That'll be fine."

"We should clean up now," Daehwi told the prince. "I would feel bad if one of the servants had to clean this mess up."

As they were cleaning up, Hansol entered the room. "Prince Samuel and Daehwi, please follow me to this room." He showed which one he was talking about on a map. "Let's go." The butler began striding ahead of the pair.

Samuel gave Daehwi a confused look. "We'd better follow him," the prince said. "I'm sure it won't take long."

They got up and trailed after Hansol. Soon, they were in front of the room the butler was talking about. Hansol opened the door for the two boys.

"Enter please," Hansol told them.

The pair obeyed and they didn't notice that Hansol locked the door after they went in. 

"I don't recognize this room," Samuel said. "It seems so off."

Daehwi nodded. "I haven't been in here either."

"Welcome!" a crackly voice from a hidden speaker boomed. "Hey Seungcheol, is this thing working?" More static was heard and finally it stopped. "You'd think being the king would entitle you to a well working microphone." Samuel and Daehwi heard King Jeonghan grumble. 

"I'm taking over now, you'll mess the system up again," King Seungcheol said. 

"It was an accident! I was leaning and I pressed the button!"

"The kids are still listening to us."

Samuel giggled. His parents were really funny.

"Anyway, you guys are stuck in that room until you figure out what we want at the very end. It's like an escape room!" said King Seungcheol cheerfully. "The first clue can be found on the brown table. I do hope that we didn't put any of the clues in the wrong place. Oh, if you want help just call press that red button by the door. We'll answer over the intercom, but I can't say we'll be helpful." He chortled. "Good luck!"

The speaker turned off.

Warily, Samuel and Daehwi looked at each other. 

Finally, Samuel said, "At least this is going to be interesting."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter wasn't too bad. What do you think of it you guys? -Veil

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know where this story is going. Apologies for making this a kingdom/royalty fic, I know there's plenty out there already. Please proceed to yell at me in the comments to continue this, because I get bored of my stories REALLY quickly. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you to everyone who read this, commented, subscribed, and gave kudos. You're the best! -Veil


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